by Whitney Jones
A couple years ago, when I was pregnant for my daughter Ila,
I lost sight of what Christmas was really about because of misplaced
expectations.
It was Christmas morning and everything was ready to go. The
presents were under the tree, the smell of monkey bread cooking in the oven,
the lights on the tree, and the decorations throughout the house. Everything
was perfect except for the fact that my 13 year old step daughter was not with
us. This was the first year of Ryan and I being married that she was spending
Christmas morning with her mom.
As I waited for Layla to arrive I became anxious and
saddened by the thought of our Christmas not going as planned. It didn’t look
like past Christmases. It didn’t feel like past Christmases. I expected our
morning to go as it had every Christmas morning. We all wake up, watch each
other open gifts, eat monkey bread together, and just simply enjoy one another.
Because our Christmas did not go as I had planned I started
to get upset rather than seeing all of the many blessings. That Christmas I
missed the true joy of Christmas because I was wrapped up in our Christmas
morning not looking like I had planned it.
How many of you have lost sight of Christmas because of
misplaced expectations? Maybe you expected 10 people to show up to your
Christmas dinner party and only 6 showed up. Maybe you expected to have the
perfect family Christmas card and neither of your kids are smiling in the
picture. Maybe you were hunting for the perfect gift for your spouse and you
ended up buying him another sweater. We are constantly missing the joy of
Christmas because of unmet expectations.
Are you one of those people who have a tendency to expect
perfection? Or are you a person that builds things up in your mind and expects
everyone to fit your vision?
I will admit I am one of those people. Most of us are at
some point. We are always trying to measure up to others and make everything
perfect that we are losing sight of what is really important.
This December we have been watching clips from the movie The
Grinch. All of Whoville expected the Grinch to be a big scary monster; and all
of Whoville had been missing the fact, that Christmas could come without
ribbons, that it could come without tags even without packages, boxes or bags.
This Christmas season I hope that your Christmas
can come without all the perfect packages and expectations. I hope this
Christmas you can find the love we find in Jesus, and joy we find in our family
and friends.
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