An Unexpected Gift

Throughout our 21 years of marriage, Tom and I, along with our extended family members, have built many traditions around Christmas. These traditions are probably similar to those that most families associate with the holidays, and they’re comforting in their ritual, steadfast in their execution. As our children have grown, we’ve delighted in carrying out these traditions, and watching the kids embrace them into their hearts. Every year, whenever someone would ask what our plans were for Christmas, I’d have the speech down cold: we’d go to mass as a family on Christmas Eve, head over to Tom’s parent’s home for Swedish meatballs, the rosary and gifts, and be home in time for Santa to appear in the darkness as the kids watched from the banister above; Christmas morning would bring presents under our tree, and then we’d head over to my parent’s house for presents, games and dinner. As we approached our traditions this year, our schedule was quite off. So off, in fact, that I feared being shaken and perhaps a tad bit traumatized by the inconsistencies that we were going to encounter. Most of all, I feared that I wouldn’t get to experience the “true Christmas” I’ve come to expect. Since Kenzie had to work the weekend shift at the nursing home, she wouldn’t be able to attend Christmas Eve mass or dinner at Tom’s folks’, and wouldn’t be able to spend the afternoon at my parent’s house on Christmas Day. So, we regrouped. And, as un-usual as the weekend shaped up to be, it was a beautiful one. An unexpected gift.

We went to a different mass at a different place. We said the rosary without Kenzie, but she felt its power and missed being there for it. Tom dressed up as Santa and greeted her at the door at 11 p.m. when she walked in after her 8-hour shift. The four of us plopped on the couch and giggled about how many times they saw Santa as young kids while Dad was "sleeping". During the day, we had time to take walks with the dogs and have extra family time. We moved our Christmas Day to the 26th, and reveled in the 3-day celebration that we normally wouldn't have had. 

My Mom always says, “I’m nothing if I’m not flexible”, and I’ve started to take this mantra on myself. As our children grow and become the adults we’re raising them to be, we must learn to embrace the traditions we’ve created, yet remain flexible with our time. And it is in this flexibility that we enjoyed a Christmas I’ll remember for a long time – and not because of any material gift I received, but because of the gift of the joy of the unexpected.     

Why We Struggle

I sometimes think that life would be much simpler if I could just pick up my family, move to some tropical island, and spend the days floating on the water, sipping pineapple juice, and building sand castles. We’d be sheltered from all problems, all suffering, all fear. Sounds perfectly perfect, right? But, in the long run, would it really be all that good? Would we really be the people we are today if it were easy all the time? We’d all love it if our lives were easy, problem-free, and painless. Why is it that we have to endure pain, heartache, uncertainty, fear, loss, and despair?
I found a glimmer of the answer in a reflection I was reading on Genesis 37 by author, Hanna Whitall Smith. She writes, “It is no matter who starts our trial, whether human, or devil, or even our own foolish self. If God permits it to reach us, He has by this permission made the trial His own, and will turn it for us into a chariot of love which will carry our souls to a place of blessing that we could not have reached in any other way.”  
Think about the trials you’ve endured and come through on the other end, whether it was the loss of a loved one, a serious illness, the shame in something from your past, or a stumble that turned into a big-time face plant. No matter what, you are likely different, and better, for having come through it. Had you never experienced the depths of the trial, you wouldn’t be the person you are today. And the biggest comfort in this truth is that He is with us every step of the way. As the author reveals, God takes our trials on as His own. He only lets those in that will “carry our souls to a place of blessing that we could not have reached in any other way.”
Indeed, in our struggles, we find God walking right alongside us, anticipating the great blessings that will come into our lives from having done so. And it is in this parternship, that we find true comfort and joy. Let Him hold your hand today as you move through your journey, and be comforted in the truth that you are being led to a place of abundant blessings, a place that you wouldn’t have known had you not endured the struggle.