A few days ago, my kiddos and I took off for Winn-Dixie. I needed a few things, and thought I could do a quick in and out without any major disasters. (3 kids in the grocery store is always an adventure:)). But as I often am, I was wrong.
Somewhere around the milk area, my three-year-old went into partial meltdown mode. I wasn't really surprised because she hadn't had a nap, but I thought she could pull it together. I was very wrong. By the time we hit the checkout line she was in full-blown meltdown mode. I think it started over a Lunchable and continued because of ???who knows???
As I checked out, she sat in the middle of the floor by the door screaming and crying, with people dodging her as they came in. Everyone was staring at the spectacle on the floor. When we left, my son said, "Mom that was so embarrassing!" And my oldest replied, "Just think how mom felt!" (Ha!)
So let me tell you how I felt. I felt frustration and exhaustion from the number of fits I deal with a day and maybe a little embarrassment. But I also felt patience given to me from the Lord that said, "I'm right here. Just hang on."
When we got home and she calmed down and all was right with the world again, she jumped in my lap and said, "You're my mommy, Mommy! I wuv you soooo much! You make me always laugh....and I'm your funny girl!"
And y'all, my heart softened. All the frustration and exhaustion and embarrassment from the 30 minutes before seemed far away for a few moments in time. And I felt the Lord saying, "This is why I came. I came for redemption. I came to redeem you in those moments when you go in full-blown meltdown mode. I wait patiently for you to remember whose you are. And I hold you when you come back...no matter how long it takes sometimes."
It is so very simple, y'all.
Christmas is coming. And as I try to wrap my heart and mind around the season before us, I am faced with a couple of different feelings.
On the one hand, as a Christian, it can be a super exciting time of year. The Christmas choir productions, the candles, the giving opportunities, etc. They are all beautiful and fun and give us opportunities to share Jesus with others. It makes my heart so happy.
But if I'm being honest, it can all seem a little redundant. It's a Christmas story we've heard a million times. Mary, Joseph, the baby, the shepherds, the wise men, the star. And it can lose its luster. The most amazing story on Earth can become another routine part of Christmas to watch and read and tell and put away until next year.
But this year, don't let it be that. Don't let one day go by that you don't think on that precious baby in the manger. And why He came.
He isn't just part of a story. He is the story.
We celebrate His birth every year, even though we've heard it a thousand times before, to be an annual reminder of the unbelievable gift of love and redemption we've been given. Not only for that day, but for eternity.
For every moment you lose your cool, for every bad decision you make, for each misstep you take, there is a Savior who came to redeem you. To save you from your sins and forgive you, whether you deserve it or not.
"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you."
Isaiah 44:22
The story didn't end in Bethlehem that amazing night.
That precious baby went on to die on a cross.
He rose again and went to Heaven.
And He is with us today.
He is watching and listening and loving you.
And He is in the redemption business.
We all have a story. He wants to be part of yours.
Rest in that precious reminder this Christmas.
And share it with someone else.
Merry Christmas:)
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