Avoiding disappointment at Christmas
The fear of disappointing someone sends us back into the crowds swiping our credit cards, again. Another trip to Hobby Lobby for one more half price decoration promises to fill the gap on the mantle. Seems like we are one more trip up the ladder or one more string of lights from enough. Don’t we already have enough?
Making Christmas special
We all want Christmas to be special for the ones we care about. Gift giving isn’t my love language and I’m easily pleased with just about anything, so I won’t be disappointed by any of my gifts, but…
Expectations are a set up for disappointment
Trying to be everywhere and please everyone is like chasing a moving target. Traveling here and there to get home to friends and families only to be pulled in five different directions when you get there isn’t just hard, it’s an impossible demand. There’s only one way to avoid disappointment at Christmas.
Lower your expectations of others and raise your expectations of Christ
Emmanuel came to give us hope and joy. Jesus was born to do what we can’t do for ourselves – bring salvation.
Here’s the secret to avoiding disappointment at Christmas:
Expect him to show up
Look for his coming
Put all your hope in him
The Christmas script
Whether we realize it or not, we write an unspoken script of the holidays. If I were writing the story of Christmas this year, my grown kids wouldn’t live a collective 3,000 miles away. They’d wake up at home on Christmas morning with a whole family and sit and drink coffee before heading to grandparent’s house for a gathering of those we love most. Instead, they’ll divide their time in an impossible effort to not disappoint and when it’s over, they are the ones who’ll be spent.
Christmas can be full of disappointment for those bringing loss to the season
But Christmas isn’t about gifts or even family; it’s about Christ. Only if I focus on Jesus, will I find joy, and maybe, just maybe, that will bring joy to others, which is the best gift I have to give.
Finding joy at Christmas releases the people around me from the responsibility of my contentment. My joy is the best gift I can give others #Christmasexpectations Click To TweetThe joy of enough
Joy is not finding or giving the right gift. It isn’t even family or treasuring memories of Christmas past and making memories for Christmas future. Joy comes from enough. Finding joy in Christ releases others from the responsibility of our contentment.
The real present is living in the presence of Christ.
So lay down the pen. The Christmas story was written long ago and the ending is truly joy to the world.
Beautifully written and spot on! Merry Christmas dear friend. I have no doubt you will bring joy to your family as you gather to celebrate Christ’s Birth.