Night Before Christmas: The Real Scoop

T’was the night before Christmas when all through the townhouse Were strewn Legos and Cheerios and laundry all about

If Santa thinks the house isn’t quite clean enough

He can do it himself when he drops off the stuff

There were Pillsbury slice and bake cookies prepared

Will St. Nick be impressed?  Probably not, but who cares

The kids were at last in their IKEA bunks for the night

Following a small skirmish—OK a big fight!

“The shepherds and wise men should stand in a neat line

Facing Mary and Jesus with Joseph tucked behind.”

“He’s the Lord!” screamed the middle child, “A circle’s the thing

With Christ in the center so all can see the baby king”

Each yelled in his turn where the Prince of Peace should lay

And lo the nativity scene went flying in the midst of the fray

“Up to bed—NOW!” was my gentle request

“This really is no time to get PMS.”

I drug myself up the stairs to the bed

Dove in and pulled the covers up over my head

I had just dozed off when I heard a big crash

Probably those big rats again in the trash

So I nudged my hubby to go see what was up

“Not tonight, dear,” he mumbled, “Four kids is enough.”

I said, “I’ll go check,” as he continued to snore

So I went downstairs and looked out the back door.

The sight that I saw caught me quite by surprise

Not rats at all, but St. Nick in disguise

He wore navy Dockers and top siders for shoes

And a Tommy Hilfiger polo in green and blue hues

There he was sprawled out on his back

I knew it was Santa because of his sack

I cracked open the door and stuck out my head

“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,” he said.

“I fear I must do something I really do hate

It seems I’ve been injured…I must litigate.”

There was no jolly suit all done up in red

No, his suit was to be filed in court instead

“I have a good lawyer, and he’ll fight for me.

After all, it was at work I sustained injury.

This Tonka truck you left right here in my path

Caused the tumble which seriously injured my back.”

We heard a loud engine and both turned to see

His eyes filled with panic as he looked toward the street

“That’s my hummer you’re towing…you don’t know who I am!”

And despite his bad back, he jumped right up and ran.

“Where’s your sleigh?” I called, thinking this was quite shady

“Come on, get real.  This is Southern Cal lady.”

So away flew Santa on this warm Christmas night

Chasing his hummer as it was towed out of sight.

The moral of this story is easy to spot

This Christmas be thankful for all that you’ve got

Be patient with the kiddoes in spite of their mess

And go get some pills for that wicked PMS.

Come Lord Jesus: An Advent Devotional (Week 4)

One of our most beloved Christmas carols is Joy to the World…not to be confused with another popular feel-good tune about a suspicious friendship with a wine-sipping bullfrog named Jeremiah that proclaims, “Joy to the world, all the boys and girls…Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea; joy to you and me.” I for one am all for the fishes in the sea being joyful if it’s in their capacity to be so. But the kind of joy the world needs isn’t synonymous with fleeting moments of warm fuzzies splashed randomly about our lives. The kind of joy we need is deep, abiding, unshakable. Consider the circumstances of Mary, the mother of our Lord. She has been visited by an angel and informed that she is going to be pregnant and give birth to a Savior. Imagine yourself in Mary’s place. Yes, you have been visited by an angel of the Lord—quite a big deal by anyone’s standards. But you are also a young girl, in your teens, and unmarried. You are faced with questions. What will people think of me? How can I live up to what God is asking of me? How will Joseph my fiancé react? How in the world is all of this going to work out?

Surely these and many more questions occupied Mary’s thinking throughout her experience. Nevertheless, her initial response provides a clue about the nature of true joy.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Luke 1:46, 47

Mary rejoiced in God. She humbly recognized that God’s presence and activity in her life was reason to rejoice. We can learn a similar lesson in joy from our fellow traveler Habakkuk.

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, 
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, 
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17-18

Habakkuk was able to look beyond the very real difficulties of life to an even greater reality—the God who is with us is not surprised or worried about a thing.

Whatever the circumstances of our lives, joy is possible. Like Habakkuk and like Mary, we can say, “I will rejoice in God my Savior.” This Advent and Christmas season remind us that God is indeed present and active in our lives. Our God is all-powerful. He is loving, merciful, gracious, slow to anger, just, kind, and all-wise. He is Immanuel…God with us. He is present in our chaos and our pain. He is with us at our birthday parties and our funerals, in our job promotions and in our lay-offs. God Himself is with us. This is the reason for our joy.

In just a few days, this Advent season will pass and we will celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ—Immanuel—to you in new ways. Ponder the following scripture passages this week and allow the joy of the Lord to sink deep into your soul.

Matthew 1:23

Habbakuk 3:17, 18

Luke 1:46

I Peter 1:8, 9

An Advent Prayer

Come long-awaited Jesus, Savior of all.

Let the joy of the Father’s heart

Pour into our own hearts

And flow from us to others

Who are desperately seeking a reason...

To rejoice