We were struggling a little the past two weeks with balance and joy in our Christmas festivities, what really were we celebrating, and were we doing it justice? We were plain hurried too. And then we just settled on a few good things and went with that, instead of trying to 'do it all'.
We finally buckled down and got into really good rhythms at night. The girls always said: 'let's do Advent, let's do Advent' and they did not mean gifts (though sometimes they did ask), they meant the reading, the story, the build up, the anticipation. Some nights they got gifts, other nights not, but always, every night, they got more of the story. More of the incarnation.
And now, after Christmas, we still must live in light of Christmas. This is why, as I told Sophia today, Christmas is everyday. God with us in Christ. Daily. The incarnation is worth celebrating every day because Christ became humility for us in a manger, he became perfect substitution by His perfect life lived, he became death for us on a cross, hope for us in the resurrection, joy eternal for us because He reigns even now. Yes. He is. with us. Our Immanuel.
