Christmas Stinks!

I knew the title of this entry would get your attention.

This entry started out as a quick note to say we're still here! Our camera seems to be on the fritz so that's why I'm not posting much. And, what fun is a blog if it's just words? And while I had you here I wanted to direct you toward a blog I have been following for a while. http://www.ellieskees.blogspot.com/. In it, Sarah Skees, chronicled the battle her little girl fought against a terminal brain tumor. Now she continues her story with how she, her husband and son are coping. Ellie passed away on December 19, 2007 so today marks the one year anniversary of her "home going" as Sarah calls it. I have been amazed at Sarah's ability to embrace her pain and grief, be honest about it, be real. It's made me realize that we somehow think that being angry and raging against things that are unfair cannot go hand-in-hand with honoring the Lord. And this thought got me to thinking... hence, a longer than anticipated blog entry entitled, "Christmas Stinks!"

My life has been far from difficult when I compare it to Sarah's, or to my friend Colleen who lost her teenage daughter three years ago in a car crash or to my mother-in-law's who watched her "baby" die of cancer, even though her "baby" was in his forties. I remember a conversation I had with my mother-in-law shortly after Jeff passed away. I was talking about how much love I felt for Daniel, who was born just eight weeks before Jeff's death. I said to her, "I think I can't possibly love him more and then the next day I do love him more. It just keeps growing." I remember her very quietly saying, "And that never changes..."

So while I acknowledge I have not dealt with things others have, it has been a difficult year and for some reason, during this Christmas season, it's all come to a head! At first, I was thinking, the timing of this all stinks!! What were you thinking, Lord? It's hard to be joyful and get excited about lights and turkey dinner and getting packages in the mail when you're struggling with a weight of emotions. But I am beginning to see the God's timing IS indeed perfect because I am seeing another side of the Christmas Story -- the stinky side.

As I sit at my computer I can see three nativity sets. There is the one my Grandma made for my mom in '82 that my mom passed onto me because I loved it so much growing up. There is the Willow Tree set that Patrick and the boys started for me last year because I love Willow Tree figurines. Daniel came home the day they had purchased the set and exclaimed, "We bought you some cows and sheep for Christmas!" That set is still missing some significant characters, but Baby Jesus is there, bundled sweetly, quietly in Mary's arms (and her tummy is perfectly flat!). And then there is the Little People from Fisher Price nativity set that we got for the boys to play with since the previously mentioned sets are off-limits! Their manger scene has managed to incorporate Lightning McQueen, a dinosaur and various monster trucks. But as I look at these scenes I notice that something is seriously lacking -- the stink!

Have you been in a stable? Been around sheep and cows? They stink! Somehow with our Precious Moments' Baby Jesus and Christmas programs and neighborhood lighting contests and the political correctness of the word "holiday," we turned Jesus' birth into something pretty and... not messy... We turned Christmas into being about a cute, cuddly baby wrapped in downy, soft sheets, an image as perfectly wrapped as those gifts coming from the gift wrapping table at the mall.

If that's how God really wanted us to see the coming of Christ then why not be born in a nice hotel room? There would have been room at the Inn! Mary would have packed in her bag the perfect, little "Going Home" onesie to put on Jesus. She would have had mid-wives, her mom, her aunt, somebody who had done this before to coach her as she breathed hee-hee-hoo.

But that's not how it was... Can you imagine how helpless Joseph must have felt when he realized that baby was going to come no matter what? I've sometimes wondered if Joseph got Mary settled and then ran through the streets of Bethlehem begging for somebody, anybody to come help. But did people turn their backs in judgement and disgust since Mary and Joseph were not married? How did Mary handle the gossip from the other women taking that pilgrimage with them? (Lady friends, you know there was gossip!)Did she hang her head in shame? Did she lift her head in pride? Why did the angels first appear to stinky, un-showered, sheep-dung covered shepherds who would have been ceremonially unclean to even offer their traditional, Jewish sacrifices? Yet, they were the first invited to worship before the long-awaited Messiah! Why a stable? Why the stink?

Because that is Emmanuel! That is God with us! He never told us to get our act together before He showed up. He didn't ask the world that He created to arrange an attractive, fragrant place for his birth. No, he entered our world, our messy, stinky-stinky, crappy world. Christmas is Jesus showing up in the midst of our mess.
So, this is what I am thinking. If things are going great for you right now, embrace the JOY of the season! Jesus came to give us life and to give us life abundantly, so trim the tree, eat candy canes, fill your home with spicy smells and turkey dinner, revel in the rush of last minute shopping and listen to your favorite Christmas carols and hymns over and over and over.

But if things aren't going so well right now, I challenge you to not put on a happy face for the sake of the holiday. I challenge you to not feel guilty because you're "just not in the Christmas spirit." I challenge you to tell God how your really feel and don't think you are being ungrateful or that he somehow can't handle it. Is he really going to be disappointed in you because you don't think that 2-yr-old at the mall in the miniature Santa outfit is just the cutest think you've ever seen? In fact, you really can't see past his snotty nose right now! No! Invite JESUS, to come into your world, your mess, your stable. I think praising Him for being born in the middle of the stink is one way to honor Him best!

C'mon. Let's admit it. Christmas stinks.