When the THUMPS of Christmas Wreck Your Joy…
Blog | Growing Pains | Life Lessons | Prayer
I felt it the moment my friend looked around my house and said with a playful smile, “You’re the only one I know who hasn’t put up a Christmas tree yet!” And again when a neighbor mentioned that we were the only house on the block without strands of lights twinkling in the night.
It hovered like an unwelcome lump in the back of my throat when the well-meaning grocery clerk asked if I had my Christmas shopping done yet, and I admitted I hadn’t even started.
The weight of the season can bear down hard this time of year.
Yet, we celebrate the One who came to lift our burdens.
And so, right there in the grocery store, I took a deep breath and remembered a lesson I’d learned from a wise little boy one holiday season not so long ago…..
It was a brisk November afternoon, one day before the scheduled birth of my third born, and I was trying to savor my last few hours as a mom of two.
I’d tucked my youngest beneath her covers for a nap and had curled up on the couch for story time with my firstborn.
Though normally I love to snuggle up and read to my children, on that particular day; the experience felt far from magical.
I had no lap left on which my son could nestle, and no matter how hard I tried to snuggle with my sweet boy as we read, my one-day-from-due-date stomach insisted on being the uninvited guest.
Every time my five-year-old leaned in to get a closer look at the pictures in our book, he received a prompt THUMP from the tiny foot hiding beneath my bulge.
As our story time proceeded, I grew more and more irritated by the uncomfortable boxing match in my belly. Lukas, however, was enjoying the vivid reminders of the life within me.
In fact, after one particularly aggressive THUMP he turned to me and said with an irresistible grin,
“I can’t believe tomorrow I’m finally going to see those feet that have been kicking me for so long!”
Then, with eyes agleam, he added, “I can’t wait to count all those little toes!”
I remember gazing quietly into my son’s pensive eyes and wiping away the tears sliding out of my own.
How had I forgotten the feet?
Somehow, in those last few weeks of pregnancy, my much-wished-for, much-prayed-for, much-anticpated gift from Heaven had turned into a wearisome muddle of THUMPS.
A string of uncomfortable and inconvenient interruptions.
I kissed my little boy’s soft head and bowed my own in that humble moment on the couch. And then, I begged God to keep me aware of the toes beyond the THUMP until I could hold those tiny feet in my hands.
I haven’t sported a pregnant belly at Christmas time for several years.But that simple prayer seems fitting still.
‘Cause I’ve learned that it’s easy to approach the Christmas season much like I approached those last long days of pregnancy .
Like a full-term belly, my holiday schedule can bulge uncomfortably with activities and to-do’s until the miracle behind the madness has been reduced to a mere series of THUMPS rather than an unparalleled gift of grace.
Only fifteen shopping days left. THUMP.
The neighbors have already hung their lights. THUMP.
The church needs 3 dozen cookies for the Christmas program by the end of the week. THUMP.
And so it goes right up until Christmas day when our Savior’s birthday catches a tired and frazzled me by surprise.
What would our Christmas season be like if we learned to see the feet beyond the THUMPS?
Because the gift of Christmas is exactly that- His feet here with us.
The same feet that strolled through the Garden with Adam and Eve stroll beside us today.
The same feet that wandered in the dessert with His people for forty years; wander with us today.
The same feet that kicked about in the manger; the same feet that the wise men bowed low to adore; the same feet that walked the hill to Calvary on our behalf; walk with us still. We may not be able to count His toes, but we can spy His tracks.
And maybe, if we open the eyes of our hearts to see His feet behind those THUMPS, this Advent season will truly become a time of anticipation instead of a blur of exasperation.
I’m not sure when I’ll make it to the mall to hunt for Christmas gifts, but beginning today, I’m going on a foot-hunt.
‘Cause I believe that my Savior born long ago in that mucky Bethlehem stable leaves evidence of His grace in the most ordinary of places.
Even in that empty corner where a Christmas tree should be standing tall!
The Overflow: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. -Luke 2:11
Counting all these gifts as tracks of His grace….
1648. Watching Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat come to life on our local theater stage— all seven of us laughing and singing along.
1649. Making Gingerbread houses with the littlest ones… frosting on fingers, faces, and sleeves. Sweet fun!
1650. Joshua in his fuzzy brown fleece… would you like to hold me, Mom? Since I’m so cuddly?
1651. A husband who pours himself out like Christ.
1652. Hearing afresh the miracle of Lucy’s store- an orphan’s tale that is ours as well… the privilege of walking with friends who say YES to God!
1653. Hannah in response — “My knees just feel like they should bend in prayer right now!”
1654. A brisk walk with Lizzy on a cold Sunday afternoon.
1655. Peppermint scented play doh
Happily linking with Ann for multitude mondays, laura for playdates with god, jen for soli deo gloria.
Happily linking with Ann for multitude mondays, laura for playdates with god, jen for soli deo gloria.
Oh, yes! I love it when we are on the same page and I feel like I have a whole new vision for keeping me centered. I remember my own pregnancy thumps well.
Oh, I dislike thumps…like guilt trips…so lousy. You have it right. Your heart is in the right place…to see the One answer to thump the thumps away!!
Oh, so many thumps here! I appreciate your words of hope, pointing to the feet that trod the earth to bear my burdens. May this season be not about lists but about Him. Loved this!
I am feeling this message down to the core. Every year, I think I will be better prepared, plan ahead, check off the to-do list early so that I can enjoy the celebration of the greatest miracle. But then I discover my focus is still on the tasks and not on being still and knowing He is God. Like you said, he came to save us from our burdens. Thank you for this illustration, Alicia. There’s a miracle brewing beneath those thumps! I will pocket this one over the coming days.
Yes … plenty of thumps to go around and only One Answer.
Fondly,
Glenda