There was a multitude of Christmas submissions this year, and they were all beautiful. So here they are again, in case you missed them. ~Elizabeth Trotter
It’s Beginning to Look Somewhat Like Christmas by Janessa Cyper
“As I reflect a little more, I realize it’s beginning to look more like Christmas than I’ve ever felt before. The longing, the waiting, the prayers and lamenting as we’ve pursued a lengthy adoption process over these past five years which has yet to finalize. The desire to spend Christmas with family across the world. All of it, wrapped up and tied together like a gift — a gift that looks rather worn. A daily surrender to the hope, promise and unfolding still to come.”
Expat Christmas is ever-changing, yet evergreen by Louise Clark
“So this year as I gaze at my artificial pine Christmas tree, I will be forever reminded of the lessons that real pine tree taught me. When I am rooted in Him, I can weather the seasons of grief and sorrow because He is with me. When I can’t stand any more of life’s transitions, He carries me. Even when I feel like I am breaking under the weight of change and loss, I can cling to the hope I have in Him, for when I am weak, He is strong.”
Changing Christmas? by Anita Rahma
“Having spent more Christmases in an Indonesian slum than probably anywhere else in my life, I now believe that Christmas is nothing like the Hallmark cards or Netflix holiday specials. I imagine Jesus being born in a shack like my neighbors live in. I see sheep on the field near our house, their coats dirtied black from picking through trash, and I remember how God chose humble shepherds to be the first witnesses to the miracle of Immanuel’s birth. As I journey with pregnant mamas in a weekly prenatal class, I wonder how it was for Mary, far from family and from her home.”
Advent and Poo by Roberta Adair
“I liked knowing that there was a small piece of poo in our Advent wreath. Perhaps I liked it because it was so irreverent. Perhaps I sneaked it onto our dinner table every evening because it felt like a secret nod to the first Christmas, which included sheep keepers and took place in a literal barn. For both baby Jesus and his earliest worshippers, poo was very much a part of that first unsanitized, yet-to-be-commercialized Christmas.”
A Tale of Christmas Fails by Emmy Lopez
“For years, I have hated myself for this annual cycle of Christmas fatigue. I could only truly contemplate the beauty of the long-awaited savior once the day had passed and the celebrations were over. My husband and I try to construct a holiday schedule that won’t leave us feeling like we are about to keel over and die, and each year we think that we’re about to do it right this time. Nevertheless, we find ourselves in the same condition year after year.”
Fear and the Incarnation by Betsy Kirk
“Fear thrives on darkness; it is a result of the future being unknown, uncontrollable, unpredictable. But our future, at least our ultimate future, since the sunrise of the incarnation, is no longer unknown. It is full of hope. It rests on the promise that impossibly, unexpectedly, undeservedly, all things will come right. Take a deep breath this Christmas. The scarier your circumstances, the more precious is Jesus.”
Flip-flopped Christmas by Mari Eygabroad
“My husband and I lay on our couch, surrounded by ice packs, trying not to move so we could stay cool. The heatwave came in about three days earlier. This day would go on record as the hottest day of the year. It was not July; it was December—Christmas Eve, actually.”
