Got time to open a gift, friend, regardless of the packaging?

Our family got a Christmas tree together in the woods this week, which is a perfect family experience that we (of course) always end up having!

Join people in over fifty countries who read this to gain valuable life wisdom! (Or maybe they’re just laughing at me? . . . Whatever!)

Even my doggy helped us find the right tree for us!1

But did we hold hands and sing Christmas carols the entire time, you wonder, with rapt attention?

That wasn’t EXACTLY the case if I’m completely honest, which, of course, I am all of the time when I write online.

In fact, upon careful reflection after this event, at least one person was mad at another almost the entire time! (But not me! I was only mad twice during that whole time! And I was only involved in one of the fights over which Christmas tree to get!)

Other than that (I.e., THEM), we had a wonderful family time!

Reflecting on this experience made me realize that getting a Christmas tree was like a mini microcosm that reflected our entire year2.

This experience also reflects all of our homeschooling times, where joy and sorrow are combined, sometimes even at the same time, and always in the same day.

And so, why is the gift of Christmas sorrow and joy (basically) the same thing? Because we are little bundles of joy and sadness all mixed up together. Both are inside the package of “us” at any one time, if we know where to look.

I’ll illustrate with another example that happened again when we were decorating our tree this morning.

When I was about to hang up the Christmas ornament that reminded me of my dad, who passed away a few years ago, I blurted in uncharacteristic honesty, “You know, I’m sometimes still mad at my dad for dying!” My kids looked at me with their wide, astonished eyes, their Christmas tree ornaments held in mid-air, candy canes about to fall out of their mouths, wondering (with a bit of trepidation, perhaps?) what would come out of my mouth next. But my husband knew that I just needed a hug and a little cry.

And then I was fine again and joined in our after-we-put-up-the Christmas-tree family dance.

Because even on our best vacation, the one where we “get away from it all,” the shadows of sorrow follow us. And even the longest, darkest, most desperate night carries within it the inevitable threat and hope of dawn.

We can never completely release ourselves from either sorrow or joy because we have both within us all the time.

So may our lopsided tree, with a few sparse spots, remind us that the journey to finding Christmas hope isn’t always as straightforward as we would like it to be.

But may we savor the joy of each day, release the sadness when necessary, and anticipate our inevitable transformation that both the gifts of joy and sorrow bring, as we hold the hand of God, put on our ears to hear the voice of Holy Spirit better, and follow Jesus on the next step of our spiritual journeys this season.

Merry Christmas, friend.

Thanks for liking me! I like you too! – Proven HERE, HERE, and HERE! Let’s journey together!

1 Check out his ridiculously snow-packed paws! He was busy digging up the tree to contribute in his unique way, too! (Like when he barfed that OTHER TIME.)

2 For a COMPLETE, in-depth summary of our year, read more HERE.