Have you ever been so busy, you miss something that was right in front of your face? (Like in the summer, when I look around the whole house for the sunglasses that are top of my head.) Please tell me I’m not the only one!
Sometimes we forget the things that are most important because we’re too busy running around to see them.
The same can be true of Christmas. The “most wonderful time of the year” can also be the most hectic time of the year.
Before we know it, Christmas has come and gone in a blur and we’re not sure what really happened.
However, sometimes life forces us to slow down. I don’t like being forced. I’d rather choose it, but the question is – will I choose to slow down?
A year ago this week was undoubtedly the most difficult week of my life. My 2-month-old baby was having escalating brain trouble. We had already tried one invasive surgery just after Thanksgiving, but that attempt had failed. The 13 days between her two surgeries felt like 6 months in my mind and body. During that time, I watched in horror as her life seemed to slip away; she was in constant pain, she couldn’t eat or make dirty diapers, and she had become almost unresponsive.
In those days a year ago, very little mattered to me. Crisis has a horribly beautiful way of clarifying your priorities. No one at the scene of a car wreck is wondering if they took out the trash. My “car wreck” made very little matter to me. I wasn’t bustling around saying “yes” to every Christmas tradition or invitation. I wasn’t even Christmas shopping –because nothing else mattered more than trying to keep my baby alive.
Because of the pressure in her head, she would throw up every time I tried to feed her. We resorted to having my husband “feed” her by moistening the inside of her cheek with just a few drops of milk at a time using a Tylenol dropper to try and get nourishment in her that she wouldn’t throw up.
With this excruciatingly hard backdrop of trying to save my baby last year, I walk into Christmas this year with a new perspective. As I write this under the twinkle of the Christmas tree lights, I listen to my daughter’s peaceful sleeping breaths next to me and I am wrecked by three words: “…that He gave…” Those words don’t make any sense out of context. Gave what? Who’s He? Why is the Fresh Farm Lady wrecked?
Let me explain. John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world (that’s you and me!) so much… that he gave His only Son. When I think about how hard I fought to save my baby last year, and then read that God gave me His Son, my mind can’t even comprehend it. This is a gift that is beyond understanding. This is a gift that leaves me asking, why would God do such a thing?!
In Luke 2, an angel told the shepherds on the first Christmas that Jesus being born was “good news that would bring great joy” because the “Savior has been born.”
If we need a Savior, it must mean we’re in trouble.
For our Adeline, we were in trouble. We needed the saving of a skilled doctor’s hand. We rearranged all of life to get her help. To save her.
Instead of saving his Son, God moved all of heaven to get US help. To save us.
The Bible says we’ve all come up short of God’s perfection – and the payment for that sin is eternal separation from God.
Jesus came as a baby on Christmas for the PURPOSE of bridging that separation for anyone who believes in Him.
That “believe” isn’t like the Santa Claus believing.
Trusting Jesus is like putting on a parachute before you jump out of a plane. I can SAY I believe in parachutes, but actually strapping my body into one is a different story. If I’m skydiving, my only hope of survival is complete reliance on that parachute to save me.
The same is true with Jesus. Repenting of your sin, fully trusting in His death on the cross and resurrection is the one and only way to accept that greatest gift of your life.
This Christmas, I rejoice not only in a perfectly functioning, joyful, toddling 1-year-old, but in the gift that was given to the world on that first Christmas. So that we might be saved.
Have you put on your parachute? Or do you just say you believe in parachutes? Where is your trust? Maybe Christmas is the best time to accept the gift “that He gave” you.
Meet your farmer – Liz Gerdes. She and her husband run a farm-to-table raw milk dairy and Airbnb in Caledonia. If you’re looking for raw milk ‘fresh off the farm’, visit www.gerdesfreshfarm.com or just email Liz at elisabeth.gerdes@gmail.com. First time visitors – mention this article and get a free half gallon of milk!
Raw Milk Peppermint Stick Mocha
1 cup fresh farm raw milk
1-3 T. sugar to taste (maple syrup if you’re wanting a healthier option!)
1 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup espresso or strong coffee
¼ t. mint extract or ½ a peppermint candy cane
¼ t. vanilla extract
Whipped cream and chocolate shavings if desired
1.Warm milk, cocoa powder and sugar on the stove top.
2.Stir in espresso/coffee, mint extract and vanilla. Remove it from the heat. (If using a candy cane, let it melt completely)
3.Top with whipped cream and a mini candy can for some extra Christmas cheer.
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