December 21
s l o w .... d o w n
This week I am very busy playing catch up since last week I was wearing my nurse hat and in no mood to bake. Today, I was at the kitchen table whipping up a little hat with a borrowed sewing machine as the youngest elf swaggered in for the umpteenth time and asked if I wanted to play with the manger scene with him. I said, “yes,” as mothers do when they are focusing on something else; not fully listening and letting out an “uh-huh.” Some time later, I don’t know how long, I heard him speaking just a bit louder as he said, “Do you want to see baby Jesus?” I tuned in at that point and said, “What did you say?” He looked up in my eyes and calmly said,
“Do you want to see Jesus?”
In my mind, I tallied up my long, ‘To Do’ list against my allotted time and plummeting energy level and thought, ‘No, I really don’t want to see Jesus, I just have too much to do!’
the kitchen table
As soon as that thought reached the punctuation mark in my head, I thought, ‘yep, this is not right.'
Convicted to the core….I sat for a moment…..and thought how ironic this is. Here I am making homemade gifts of love, in the spirit of Christmas, celebrating Jesus’ birth and I don’t have “time” for Jesus.
I turned off the sewing machine, and said, “Yes, I want to see Jesus!”
He collected the little figures of the people God used to alter history, my life, the world. I grabbed some cotton balls for sheep and we played. We made the figures act out Mary and Joseph looking for a room, we acted out Jesus being born (a shortened 5 year old version) and laid in a manger. I turned on the sewing machine lamp when the angel appeared before the shepherds and said,
“Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
We brought the wise men to meet Jesus and emphasized that they came later, not the day he was born (Thanks, Dad). We talked about the ways frankincense and myrrh was used during those times and why they were considered gifts.
As we played I brought over my Bible and read the passages of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke.
It was good to take a break. It was good to talk about Jesus and share the story once again with the boys.
I know I can’t be there for every learning opportunity, but if I see a really important one, one that is coming from the heart and can change a heart, a life, a world, I will drop whatever it is to be there.
Making time for Jesus in my life isn’t just about a book, a story or little figures. I try my best to weave it into the little things that I do every day. I am not perfect, but I try my best to glorify God in my thoughts, words and actions.
It is leaning on God’s strength and not my own during the little trials and through the darkest hours. It is faith in Jesus’ act on the cross and not my daily acts. The hope and joy in knowing that Romans 8:28 is true: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” These sustain me even through the crazy busy times, a car dying, the spilled milk and sick children.
Enjoy this season, and whatever season of life you are in, and make a little room for Jesus in your day.
