A Christmas Experience

Well…it’s been awhile!  I have, ashamedly, been off my blogging grind.  I wish I could say I have been taking this time to “lean in” to personal revelation and privately “unpack” some of the deep longings of my heart.

Truthfully…I’ve just been working.  A lot.  And here I am, in my cubicle, with a virtual and literal inbox (yes, people still have those) that can just never seem to stay empty.  But it’s 4:01pm the Friday before Christmas, the first snow of the season is falling outside, and my Spirit is telling me it’s time to step back.  (Honestly, I’ve been ignoring those words from the Spirit lately.)

Last night my best friends (@mkzekert, @tomlebo, @petehutchison) drove across the state to spend a few days with me in Pittsburgh and bring me back home for the long holiday weekend.  Simply being together is always enough to put our souls in peaceful places, but this weekend we are especially looking forward to:

A PITTSBURGH CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE.

We have been referring to ourselves as “elves” ever since this trip was planned.  We packed silly Christmas sweaters.  Tonight we’ll go ice skating and tour the International Santa exhibit before walking around downtown to see the lights and the life-size nativity scene—in the snow.  Last night we stood at the top of Mount Washington and counted how many Christmas trees we could see in the city.  We took pictures with the (creepy) life-size Santa and Mrs. Claus in the grocery store.  I even got eggnog and peppermint stick frozen yogurt just because it seemed like…the Christmas experience.

I love these things.  I love friends who do them with me.  I think gradually over the last two years since graduating college, I’ve let my life become less fun—I need Christmas experiences to reclaim that fun.

But as trite as it is, at now 4:14pm on the Friday before Christmas, I am reminded that none of these things are the true Christmas experience.  I think we all know that Christmas isn’t about gifts or holiday parties or cookie trays (except when you work in the food distribution industry).  But we do let ourselves believe that it’s about family, that feeling you get when sitting next to a warm fire with snow falling outside, and being together with the people you love.

Really, it’s about none of those things either.

The Christmas experience is humility: Sovereign God coming to us—the people who rejected Him.  And our choice to lay everything at His feet, admitting that we need Him.

Last week as I was walking by the ice skating rink downtown, I heard the song “O Come All Ye Faithful” playing.  I stopped for a second to listen to the lyrics:

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Couples and families glided around the large Christmas tree, seemingly unaware of the most beautiful and powerful invitation that has ever been given—the invitation to adore the humble King who saved us.  The scene was so ironic…kind of like our Lord being born in a manger.

Thank you, God, for letting me know your Son, and may my inbox and Starbucks red Christmas cups never keep me from that experience.

Merry Christmas!