The One Lesson That Changed My Christmas
This week we take a short break from "The One Lesson That Changed My Marriage- series to give way to the one lesson that changed my Christmases‚ forever.
The story behind this lesson took place several years prior to my becoming a pastor. I was a businessman then and my boys were aged 8, 7 and 5. I remember that year, as it was the worst year for my business. We had to scale down, move to a much smaller place and give up our second car. Having sacrificed so much, I knew that Christmas that year was not going to be the same.
Advent Night
Our family had this tradition of celebrating an Advent Night every week in December. We did this in order to center our holidays on the Lord as Christmas drew closer. That year, I was not in the mood.
Because for me, everyday was perennially about how bad the business was going. It was about making the payroll and not having anything to give the employees and worrying about what will become of the business in the coming year. I was losing faith and drowning in self-pity. But I also knew well enough to hide my sentiments so as not to steal the joy of the season from the children.
A Walk in the Village
For that particular year, Marie decided to change our usual Advent Night festivities of lighting candles while sharing about Christmas and all that God has done. Her idea was that we would walk around our tiny village, imagining what it was like for Joseph and pregnant Mary to look for a place to spend the night while everyone was busy with their own affairs. Walking around, smelling dinners and looking into lighted homes made the Christmas story come alive.
At first the boys were having fun, until the novelty wore off and they wanted the comfort of their own home. But when my boys got to the door of our house, they found it was suspiciously locked. To which Marie responded with, "Oh no, what do we do?-
Self-Pity Gone Bad
The boys sat on the curb out front as Marie continued with her storytelling. At this point, I stayed away from the pack under the cover of the evening's darkness. My thoughts were elsewhere and my self-pity had gone worse. I kept thinking things like, "this would not have happened, Joey, if you had just taken better care of the business.- All the while, Marie relentlessly kept bringing back the story of Joseph and Mary's plight.
Now I have heard the Christmas story countless times before and even preached it myself but for some reason, the Christmas story took on a very different meaning that night.
Lesson at the Curb
The muggy evening spent sitting at the curb in darkness while the bugs continually bit us was the perfect set-up. This showed me a semblance of what Joseph, Mary and (eventually) Jesus had experienced and consequently made me understand the true meaning of life.
It was that night when the Holy Spirit touched me with the words "Godliness with contentment is of great gain.- Sure, we wouldn't have the same old stuff but we had Jesus and one another. And that was way more than enough.
By the time Marie finished her story, I was wiping tears from my eyes. I have had many magical Christmases in the past but that evening changed all our Christmases to come. All because of the one lesson that changed my Christmas.
Oh by the way...all along Marie had the key. She set it all up. Then she announced, "Oh, I have the key." We all went in to a table of dessert and hot chocolate. She is after all, the one woman who changed my life.
Read related articles:
Why We Keep Watching Love Stories
Love and a Warm Heart
Love is not a Verb
How to trust in Troubled Waters
The Truth about Bad Breath
The True North of Trust
The One Lesson That Changed My Marriage
How to Turn the One Lesson Into Reality
The Risk and Responsibility of Trust
The History of Trust
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