Missing The Point

I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist. I'm sure my family would argue that I can be a nit pick, or to put a positive spin on it and because I have a nice family, they might say I have high standards for living.

As we've been working to find a way "to do" Christmas over the years I have hemmed and hawed and out right argued about how this season should look. I have straddled both sides of the fence from embracing commercialism to shunning it. My poor family walks through the pendulum swings with me as I struggle to find the balance.

I think one of my greatest fears as a parent is that I won't have taught my kids well enough or given them enough information and enough proof that Jesus is everything. That Jesus is peace and is our complete purpose. I struggle with how they can properly grow when their mother can't seem to get it right! Maybe that's the part of Advent I'm slowly learning. Maybe that's what the gospel teaches us through the example of Jesus. In my search to get it, I find myself looking for a new right way of doing things, a ritual if you will, of how we can make advent meaningful in our house. However, to-do lists or rules can become an end to themselves. They are measurable and can become something to attain, again missing the point. The gospels teach us it's not about me being enough. It's that God is enough.

Scripture is clear on what God requires of us, to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God, Micah 6:8. How that looks in each of our situations is not always clear. In this season our family is working on embracing the generous abundance of Gods love. How can we, with joy, give up to give away. How can we concretely speak about and be about this absurd selfless love daily? If our celebrations become more about us than others we've missed the point of Christmas, the point of the entire gospel. What struck me with force a couple of days ago was the fact that the grace of God enters every situation and begs us to accepts it. God is not limited by our celebrations if our desire is to see Him made famous.

I am grateful that getting it right isn't the point but that following obediently during every season is.