Thanksgiving is this week, and with it comes my favorite season of the year. I love the holiday season, filled with family gatherings, all the traditional Thanksgiving foods, holiday snacks, decorating for Christmas, and watching Christmas movies by the light of our tree. It feels cozy and nostalgic as I see the excitement of our children.
But 2020 is turning out to be a year unlike any other. Our family isn’t gathering for Thanksgiving this year, thanks to a little virus you may have heard of. Because school is still in session until Thanksgiving Day here in Clarksville, we weren’t planning to travel to Louisiana anyway. But still, it will be a strange holiday.
Recently at night, as I put Jillienne to bed, I’ve been singing Christmas carols to her. My favorite is Silent Night, but she always asks for “Wittle Wourd” (Little Lord) – also known as Away in the Manger. It’s so cute to hear her sweet voice saying, “Sing Wittle Wourd.” If she’s anything like my other children, she will one day hate listening to me sing so I’m doing it as much as she will tolerate right now. I’m going to miss her song requests when she gets older.
And last weekend, we started decorating the house for Christmas. I cleared the shelves in the living room and pulled out all my Christmas decor -Nativity scenes and handprint wreaths and small Christmas trees and JOY candlesticks. I even pulled out my Dickens Christmas villages, which haven’t seen the light of day in YEARS. I guess I’m feeling extra nostalgic in 2020.
Jillienne wanted to play with everything, of course, so I quickly found her Little People nativity set. She was so happy to have it, lining up her animals and putting the angel on top of the barn. At one point, Jonah was attempting to play with her and suddenly I heard Jillienne yell, “No! Don’t take my Jesus and my God!”
Peter and I sort of giggled a bit at her statement – well, actually, Peter made a sarcastic political comment which he thought was pretty clever.
But as I watched Jillienne cradle the Baby Jesus safely in her arms, it made me think of how we treat Jesus.
Do we hold Him as precious to us? Do we value Him as the most important thing? Are we unwilling to share Him with others?
I heard Beth Moore ask a question recently and I just can’t stop thinking about it.
“Are we making Jesus conspicuous or are we hiding Him quite well?”
It’s an interesting juxtaposition – this holding Jesus close yet sharing Him with others. I want to sit in His presence, to feel His arms wrapped around me. Yet I know I can’t keep Him only for myself. We are called to share Him with those around us, those who need to hear the Good News.
And so many people need to hear the Good News of Jesus this year.
2020 has been hard. It’s been discouraging. For some, it’s been completely devastating.
Yet we have hope in Jesus. We have hope that He is coming back to make things new. But we don’t have to wait until He comes back to earth.
He can make things new for us now, in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches, and in our communities.
So this week, as you celebrate with your family or your friends, I pray that Jesus would become real to you. Precious to you. I pray that we would all have the opportunity to share the hope and love of Jesus with those around us.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!