Get some insight from Joni and her friend Bob Lepine on adjusting your expectations for Christmas. Tune in to receive your free gift of Bob’s book that’s filled with helpful lessons for this time of year.
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I’m in the Christmas spirit.
The Christmas season has begun, and we all love cold weather, fires in the hearth, packages arriving, and we love the movies. Let’s see, James Stewart and It’s a Wonderful Life, or Home Alone. And how about Miracle on 34th Street? Both the new and old versions. Or maybe you are a fan of the Hallmark Channel. Then … there’s the Christmas music. Nat King Cole singing “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” Or Andy Williams and “Happy holiday, while the merry bells keep ringing, happy holiday to you.” And there are many more on your playlist. My favorite is Manheim Steamroller’s version of Silent Night. I can never hear it enough.
And all these movies, and songs paint a postcard picture-perfect Christmas [except maybe Home Alone]. Still, no wonder we feel this season should be filled with magic. In our dreams, Christmas is already hard-wired to be perfect. The perfect decorations, the perfect holly and berry centerpiece, the perfect roast turkey on a silver holiday platter. And we all hope for the perfect get-together with family and friends. Well, it doesn’t usually pan out that way right? We sing of a white Christmas and the nostalgic beauty and joy it describes, but rarely is it reality.
My good friend Bob Lepine has something to say about this in his new book. He says, “There’s nothing wrong with dreaming of a white Christmas. But when our hopes and dreams morph into expectations, requirements, [and] demands, we’re setting ourselves up for a fall. Christmas can be a special time of year – but the season does not possess some sort of magical power. We shouldn’t expect it to…when it seems like everyone else is full of Christmas cheer while we are forcing a smile to hide our melancholy, it’s time to redirect our thinking away from disappointments and start remembering the good things we all take for granted…we can choose to put that disappointment in perspective. Think about it: how did Jesus’ mother Mary handle her disappointment when she learned that her wedding would not be happening as she had hoped?”
Well, I love what Bob says and okay, when an angel told her she was pregnant and her marriage hadn’t even been consummated, Mary didn’t skip a beat. “She responded to the news, the disappointment, and all the shattered expectations by adjusting her perspective. ‘I am the servant of the Lord,’ she said. ‘Let it be to me according to your Word.’ She moved from questioning to acceptance and chose to trust what God said to her. And our Christmas will not all be white – but that doesn’t have to ruin the celebration. Adjusting our expectations and realizing that not everything will go perfectly, we can focus our hearts on all we have to be thankful for.”
And you don’t have to wait for Christmas to do that. And we look to Mary for the example. We are the servants of the Lord. If things don’t go the way we want, we can say with Mary, “Lord, let it be so. Let it be as you say, Jesus.” That’s the path to a happier Christmas. Hey, I’d love to give you a copy of Bob Lepine’s book from which I’ve drawn these few insights. It’s called “The Four Emotions of Christmas.” The lessons are really helpful for this time of year. So just go to joniradio.org and request your free copy of “The Four Emotions of Christmas.” Because we are all servants of the Lord, especially at Christmas.
© Joni and Friends