By: Carissa Lovvorn
Decorate the house, attend performances, plan family gatherings, organize Christmas events, buy gifts, sing carols, make picture perfect memories, move that crazy Elf, and do all of this while smiling and wearing a festive sweater. Busyness abounds at this time of year. We try to cram every activity imaginable into a few short weeks to make it a festive holiday season. Every year I fall into this trap, but this year has been especially busy. Between our daughters’ theater and ballet productions that occurred at the same times, a trip for my husband, an out-of-town concert for myself, and a community event, we had absolutely no room for error.
Cue the unexpected… Several weeks ago, I was hit by a wall — literally. This wall just happened to be 10 ft. off the ground while I was four rungs up on a ladder. The accident left me with several injuries including a neck sprain, a bone contusion, full-body soreness, and the inability to put weight on my left foot. Are you serious? I had no time to deal with these injuries. There were places to be, things to plan, performances to watch, and all of them required a mommy who could walk!
Not only was this bad timing as far as busyness goes, but painful memories also surround the month of December. It feels like I should be planning a one-year-old’s birthday party but instead, I’m left with not one but two days that coincide with pregnancy loss. Guess what happens when you take grief, add in a lot of holiday busyness, and then add a mobility limiting injury to the mix? You get bitterness!
Life is hard sometimes. It can feel like you are drowning. During those valleys, it is easy to slip into discontentment which ultimately affects your view of the world. I can attest that being bitter is hard to overcome, but there is hope. The final B in my “Three B’s of Christmas” saga is a blessing.
After several late nights at performances and a hard day of physical therapy, my youngest daughter, Ella, and I plopped down on the couch. I looked at the Christmas decorations thrown about all over the floor and the half-decorated tree and thought in frustration, “What a mess! How am I going to get everything done?” It was then that Ella noticed our nativity scene. She ran to gather its pieces, the angel tree topper, and a small lantern. She turned off the lights, found a Christmas carol on my phone to quietly play, and began to act out the story of Jesus’ birth. There, in the dark and among my pain and the mess, I realized what I’d been neglecting this year. Christmas is not about the busyness of the season, and it is not about our earthly feelings including bitterness. It’s about our Savior, and the hope and promise that comes from His birth. I pray that you can pause and reflect on the true meaning of the season.
Merry Christmas,
Carissa Lovvorn
December 20, 2024
