On ‘Christmas letdown’ and finding yearlong joy
By Jessica Brodie
In the quiet of the morning, I sit. Eyes closed, breathing steady, trying to hold onto the hallowed and the holy before the rush of today.
It’s Christmas Eve! We’ve been waiting and waiting for today… and now it’s… it’s here. Finally…
I should be so excited. I mean, I am excited, mostly.
And yet there’s a letdown, too, isn’t there? I hate to admit this, even to myself. So much of the excitement in Christmas is the buildup, the preparations. Decorating everything just so. Baking and icing the cookies. Dreaming up just the right gifts for the people we love. Spiritual preparations, too, like Advent Bible studies and the centering of the heart and soul.
Today and tomorrow, Christmas Eve and Christmas, are the big days…the happiest of happies, with the tree and the presents and the family and the songs and the rush and….
And…..
And then what? Back to the regular routine. Back to plain-old, regular, non-festive life. Back to work rhythms and school rhythms and exercise regimens and nutrition planning and all the day-in, day-out, up-down, back-forth stuff.
Except wait a minute, that’s all wrong… because I’ve just remembered.
The best part about Christmas is that IT’S NOT OVER. It’s actually never over. Every day is a new miracle, a baby “wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12 NKJV) there for us to discover and rejoice over. The miracle of Christ’s birth is not a one-and-done thing. Christ is the Word of God that “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) forevermore.
The best news about Christmas is that the salvation we receive in Jesus is a gift we have every single day, not only during our brief time on earth but for all eternity.
So we might put the tree away and the gifts in the closet or on the shelf. We might take down the lights outside our house and box up the stockings for next year. But there’s nothing “plain-old” or “regular” about the rest of our life with Jesus. Every day is festive because of Him. Every day is an opportunity to walk with Him and live in the Holy Spirit as we spread God’s Good News near and far.
So I greet today, Christmas Eve, with love in my heart and excitement. For Christmas is yet another opportunity in a lifetime of opportunities to praise my Lord and celebrate the precious gifts we are given in Him.
Merry Christmas, friends, and may the joy of Christ’s birth surround you every minute, every hour, all year long.