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| No, this isn't my basement...exactly... |
Oh what a day. If you’re on fb you’ve heard me griping about it already.
I didn’t go to the gym this morning. I slept in. This is ALWAYS a mistake.
When I skip the gym, I sleep beyond what I really should and when I do finally pull myself out of bed, I feel sluggish and annoyed. And I always end up running late from the get-go. That’s what this morning was like…with one additional caveat.
I told the kids they had to help me make their own lunches this morning. Michael went to the basement to grab two juice boxes and announces that the basement is flooded.
Great.
Perfect.
I love it when that happens.
Especially when I know there are 10 boxes of unopened cereal sitting in the middle of what is now Conrow Pond.
Why do these things happen? It barely even rained last night. What caused the basement to flood (again) and why on this morning when I’m already not feeling it. And why can’t we just get it taken care of so this stops happening? And why is the basement such a mess to begin with? And why did there have to be a bag of clothes that also ended up in the pond? And why is Paul already gone for work and this mess is now mine to clean up?
And that was my morning… which turned into my afternoon because sometimes it’s tough to shake a funk.
In addition to the stinky morning, for the last few days, I have been complaining about the weather. I know… shoot me now. It’s been so beautiful out and I love it. But I’m kinda’ missing the snow. I like the winder wonderland leading up to Christmas. It’s okay with me when it snows in December and January… it’s when there are storms in March and April that things get annoying.
In anticipation of Christmas, I need some sparkly white.
I haven’t felt like making Christmas cookies when it’s 60 degrees out. I haven’t pulled out my snowman dishes because there simply isn’t snow. It doesn’t feel like Christmas. This isn’t how I planned it.
Kinda’ like how this isn’t how I planned my morning to go either.
And then I thought of Mary, giving birth in a stable. That wasn’t exactly how she planned it. I’m guessing that when she had to travel to Bethlehem
And when she arrived there and found out that Joseph didn’t make a reservation at a hotel, she probably had choice words for him, too.
We think that she was serene and calm and humble… but really, she was human.
When she found out she would be staying in a stable, I think there’s a good chance she did some boo-hoo crying. I think she sat there looking at the innkeeper thinking, “This wasn’t how I planned it. In fact, I didn’t even ask for this birth. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Joseph and I were supposed to be married. We were supposed to have this baby at a time that was convenient for us. We were supposed to have a HOTEL ROOM.”
I know I’m probably guilty of heresy for saying that. But the Angel words were simply, “Do not be afraid, Mary. God is very pleased with you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God…” He never said anything about hay…and cows…and traveling on a donkey at 9 months! Ugh. The thought of it. And to think that I was complaining about putting sheets on my kids beds at 6 months pregnant!
Things didn’t go as Mary might have planned them.
It seems like this year, for a lot of us, things didn’t go as planned. Things aren’t unfolding as they were “supposed to”. We have lost loved ones…lost jobs…and at times, lost our faith in God and in each other. Christmas may not feel like Christmas right now…not just because we are missing the snow…but because things aren’t how we planned them.
Mary had to trust and know that even if this wasn’t her plan, that something good would come out of it. And even though my morning has been one huge funk, I am going to believe that it isn’t too late for something good to come from it, either.
If you’re going through a tough time right now… and I know some of you truly are… I pray that you can find a way to see Jesus this season. He came to earth because He loves us. He loves you. He loves YOU. He knows your pain and your hurt and your disappointment… and he wants to carry you though it this season.
So throw your arms around someone you love. Find a way to bring joy to someone else’s life. Ask God to show you the good in what seems like hopelessness and know that it’s okay to feel joy in the darkness. It’s Christmas, people! Even if there is no snow…and the basement is flooded.
