Moments

 “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don’t give up” Anne Lamott

Over the last few days, I've realized in the week after Christmas the go to question is :

Did you have a "good Christmas?"

I think we all expect each other to say politely "Yes, how about you?"

If you know me, then you know that small talk is not my thing. I'm nearly physically unable to answer a question at a surface level.

I've been thinking about these last few days - What is a "good Christmas?"

How do you know if you had a "good Christmas?" If you don't have a good Christmas, is it a bad Christmas?

One year we all 5 had the flu bad enough to end up in the ER. And our dog died. Was that a bad Christmas?

This year I officiated a funeral two days before Christmas. Was that a bad Christmas?

This Christmas brought overwhelming grief.

This Christmas we restructured our traditions. As our kids grow, each year Christmas becomes a little more flexible. It looks a little bit less like years gone by.

This Christmas my village showed up to haul out my Christmas decorations and drag us into the Christmas season.

This Christmas brought great moments of sadness as my mom tries to figure out how to eat, sleep, move forward.

This Christmas brought great moments of joy as friends and family gathered consistently to remind us of the hope each new day brings.

Moments.

I think the most accurate question this time of year is "Did you experience a moment of joy of this Christmas?"

When I think about that first Christmas, I think it was fraught with an assortment of feelings.

Fear. Sadness. Exhaustion. Loneliness. Anger.

And a moment of great joy.

Regardless of how the gatherings and gifts, how the functions and meals went - Christmas was still good.

This idea of a Savior being born as a human. This unexplainable mystery.

It was good.

It IS good.

Mama Warriors, I don't know what it is about Christmas that invokes my Norman Rockwell complex. I suddenly want everything to look like a Christmas card.

I basically want all my people to behave in a way they don't the rest of the year.

And I am disappointed when Christmas looks like the rest of our life.

Messy.

Overwhelmed with all the emotions.

Maybe we gift each other some grace this season and we don't expect each other to have a "good Christmas."

Maybe we ask the real question - Did you experience a moment of joy this season?

Did you see Jesus?