The holidays are upon us. Doesn’t Thanksgiving seem early this year? The 
pumpkin pies are done but I still have a ham to bake as well as green bean casserole and sweet potato soufflé to take to my sister’s house. The table is set. We’ll have enough food to feed a small army, I’m sure. Don’t get me wrong. I love the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, but it can sure be stressful too.
Mom’s seem strained the most during the holiday season. The majority of the planning, decorating, baking, gift buying and wrapping fall on their shoulders. After all this whirlwind of activity, my husband complains that it’s too much! I am grateful that he brings the tree in the house but the only gift he buys is mine! Does he not see that all I need is a little help?
But I will admit, I do take on more than I should every year. Though keeping traditions is wonderful, keeping one’s sanity is essential. The higher the stress levels, patience wears thin and tempers flare. Old wounds, long-buried, come to the surface again. Tears flow easily for ones who are not at the holiday table once again. What begins as a happy family get-together, dissolves suddenly into unwanted drama. No matter where you gather, the story is the same. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Perhaps within each of us is a deep desire for our stories to somehow be different during the holidays. We try to force perfection into reality with our planning and busyness but we just make our situations worse. If we admit the truth, we acknowledge that life is difficult. There is pain and there is struggle. Brokenness exists in each one of us. This is the reality we bring to our holiday celebrations. The table is set with despair. No wonder there are so many feeling depressed during the dark days of the season. They don’t have the energy to even try to gather with loved ones again.
But through our dark and broken places, the true message of the season refocuses our attention once again. Hope is born out of our despair. “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.”1
Though we don’t experience this reality yet, the birth of Jesus is the first glimpse of what is to come. Advent, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is a time of waiting. We wait for the promise of everlasting peace. We long for a time of no more tears, no more grief, no more pain. When that day arrives, we will gather for a great celebration, a great banquet. The food will be sumptuous and atmosphere, joyous. No stressing over the preparation because it’s all complete.
No need to worry. The table is set. Are you ready for the celebration?
1Isaiah 9:6
