Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

The six Rectors were sitting in Chick fil a on Christmas eve morning. 2/3 of us were sleep deprived from a rough night. Everyone was cranky and on edge, and I was trying to soak up the few hours of us all being together before my husband made his way to work for the rest of the day. Between someone spilling their nuggets and someone complaining about a lack of chips on their placemat, Mark looked up at me and retorted “We’re suppose to be having more fun now, right?!” We both laughed as we have learned the hard way that parenting responsibilities not only continue but tend to ramp up in the holiday season.

Stressful dine-in experiences aside, it is not lost on me the gift of our family, our health, and the tangible blessings God has given us on Earth. I know many people who are walking through grief and immensely hard things this December. It can be dangerous yet common temptation when our gratitude is rooted in the preservation of tradition, worldly blessings, and things going as planned. This season, as I navigated chaotic schedules, lack of sleep, and the typical holiday stressors, I pondered Mary giving birth in the stable. Surely that wasn’t in Mary’s birth plan… I pondered Christ’s humble arrival with little worldly accolade. He broke through the darkness, forever changing the course of history. So regardless of your highest high or your lowest low of this December, I pray the surpassing joy of Christ would reign in your hearts above all else.

My daughter’s favorite Christmas song is “Emmanuel God is With Us” by Ellie Holcomb… as this reverberated through the mini van this month this line continued to linger in my mind

“In the depths of a world so weary, in the midst of a sky so gray, the love of God incarnate, there in a manger lay.”

Thank you for following along with us the last two months at FortheFours. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for 2025. We have one more week in Luke 2 next Friday then we will work our way through a few different Psalms to start the New Year.