How Christmas Ought to Be

Dizzy yet?

Everyone I know, including myself, is running on empty right now, yet still dashing a hundred miles an hour in a hundred directions. That’s December for you. So why is it that we’re doing as much as we can as well as we can, yet things still don’t seem quite the way they ought to be?

My best friend Kendra and I were pondering this the other day. (At least we’re doing the pondering thing right.) Kendra is, in my estimation, a domestic goddess, who believes gifts, treats, and meals should all be homemade. Hers aren’t this year—at least not all of them—and that makes her feel like Christmas isn’t what it ought to be. I make nothing from scratch (except children) and avoid cooking and crafts as much as possible, yet I have my own Christmas expectations for myself. If I don’t send out a fun-to-read Christmas letter—in a hand-addressed envelope—in a timely manner, Christmas to me isn’t what it ought to be.

You can tell a lot about what a woman believes about herself if you follow her around during the month of December. The women who have to give the best gifts are shopping all the time. The decorators are decorating. The bakers are baking. The Christmas program directors are directing. The best-moms-ever are sitting in the front row at every party and pageant. And Kendra and I are trying our best to do what we do, but feeling disappointed that we’re not living up to our expectations of ourselves.

And the worshipers? Hmmm. I don’t know many of them. I’d like to know more. They’re the ones whose identities are not rooted in what they do or what other people think of them; they’re rooted in the truth of who God created them to be. I think they may be the “faithful” ones of “O, Come, All Ye Faithful” fame, joyful and triumphant, not tired and disappointed. And what are they doing this December? Adoring Jesus. The way they “ought” to be.

Now why didn’t I think of that?