November/December 2000
Christmas: What Do You Expect?
by Betty J. Johnson
It's the week after Christmas, and all through the house not a creature is stirring -- I'm exhausted, depressed, disappointed and feeling like a louse.
Does this describe your attitude last January? What happened to the jolly good times? Where was your sense of good will toward people everywhere? Did the hustle of holiday preparations leave you tearful instead of cheerful?
"I'm glad Christmas is over. Tension filled our house yesterday," my friend, Joy, confided last December 26.
"I really wanted a skateboard, but I didn't get one," my neighbor, Joey, commented.
"I am so exhausted, I could sleep for a week," Carrie, a young mom, cried.
Is it possible that our after-Christmas attitudes reflect our pre-Christmas expectations?
What tops your wish list for Christmas 2000?
Imperfect expectations introduce the unwelcome January companions: exhaustion, depression and disappointment. However, by prayerfully evaluating our expectations, we can invite joy, peace and hope to accompany us into the new year. Let's consider changing our expectations.
Perfect Earthly Relationships
Do you wish for a Norman Rockwell setting -- the extended dining room table filled with generations of family, all smiling, chatting, loving their togetherness? Imperfect expectation!
If our perfect Christmas focuses on earthly relationships, what happens if Johnny is in a bad mood or Billy and Bobby snap and poke at each other during dinner? Or our table doesn't need to be extended because we're a family of three?
| If our Christmas expectations focus on perfect trimmings and tables, gifts and gourmet food and perfection isn't achieved, disappointment and depression haunt our households. |
Sometimes we can't alter our circumstances, but we can change our expectations. What if our top priority is inviting the Christ Child to be born anew within our hearts? Whether our table includes two or twenty-two, the one whose birthday we celebrate prods us to view each person present with thankfulness.
Receiving the Perfect Gift
The Better Homes & Gardens' tinsel-laden tree surrounded with decorated gifts evokes high expectations. Maybe that tiny box means at long last he'll ask me to marry him. Or maybe the sports car we've always longed for is scheduled for delivery on
Christmas Eve. Imperfect expectation!
The jewelry-box contains a pair of silver earrings, and the man of our dreams isn't ready for marriage. The company is cutting back, so the sports car stays in the show room.
Is the perfect Christmas present at the top of our wish list? Do we expect to find it under the tree?
If so, we're looking in the wrong place. The perfect gift arrived one night in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. He was not wrapped in gold foil and green bows, but in swaddling clothes. He was not found under a tinsel-laden tree, but lying in a manger. And he came that we may have abundant life (John 10:10). Through the gift of Jesus Christ, God responds to our deepest needs.
The Perfect, Perfect Christmas
Are Martha Stewart expectations creeping to the top of our wish list? Do we envision perfect decorations placed in the perfect position? Will we entertain with elegant china, crystal and linen? Do our plans include baking gaily-decorated gingerbread cookies with the children in our lives and shopping until we find each person the perfect gift? Do we push aside all moments of solitude to play Super Mom, Super Dad, Super Grandma or Grandpa? Imperfect expectation!
What happens when the neighbor next door decorates every tree in his yard and a friend's house emanates Victorian ambiance, causing ours to look red-and-green gaudy? And we discover five-year-old children sometimes prefer watching Toy Story 2 to decorating gingerbread cookies? How do we feel when that perfect gift turns out to be the wrong size, or the wrong color or the wrong design? And when the after-Christmas clean-up committee consists of the same super person who cooked, cleaned, baked and wrapped it all?
If our Christmas expectations focus on perfect trimmings and tables, gifts and gourmet food and perfection isn't achieved, disappointment and depression haunt our households. This year, remember that only God is perfect. Enjoy the beauty of your neighbor's decorations, allow your children to be childlike, tuck love and acceptance inside the wrapping of a less-than-perfect gift, and set aside time each day for waiting on the Lord.
Thousands of years ago, people watched and waited, expecting a Savior and a King. A man in Jerusalem named Simeon expected the Messiah to come soon. When Mary and Joseph arrived, presenting the baby Jesus to the Lord in obedience to the law, Simeon was there and took the child in his arms, praising God. "Lord," he said. "I have seen the Savior you have given to the world. He is the light that will shine upon the nations" (Luke 2:30-32, The Living Bible).
What are we expecting this Christmas? The King has arrived, and he said that if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, the things of worth will be added unto us. May we, like Simeon, praise God and proclaim Jesus as our perfect guest, gift and source of hope for the future.
Can Christmas make a positive difference in our lives? Perhaps it depends on our expectations.
Betty J. Johnson, freelance writer and speaker from Parker, Colorado, is the author of numerous stories and devotionals published in Christian books and magazines.