I like to feel warm & fuzzy on Christmas… who doesn’t? If you’ve watched a lot of TV Christmas specials growing up, then we all dream of this perfect Christmas that makes us feel all warm & fuzzy! Perhaps this is why one of my favorite Christmas special is The Christmas Story… because it makes me feel better about my own dysfunctional family! 😀 I don’t have a perfect family–in fact, far from it! Since high school, I’ve come to realize and accept the fact that our family will never be picture perfect, and we’re way beyond pretending. Thus, I guess I gave up the hope of having this ideal Little House on the Prairie Christmas special time with my own family… I came to expect very little during the whole holiday season since the dysfunction seems to heighten during the months of December and January.
Yet I still watch all the warm & fuzzy Christmas specials… the ones where people realize that Christmas is really about family, loving one another, and being together… well, it’s a good message… but as I share my story with people, I realize that more and more people also don’t have this picture perfect family like I thought they did… so many people have gotten really great at pretending and ignoring their issues… and playing “nice” during the holidays. For some reason, we all feel the need to be that family that appears on Hallmark Channel TV special, at least during the holidays. And it got me thinking just how many people are sick of pretending or how many people are actually hurting during this time of the year…
For me, I’ve learned over the years not to dwell on what I’m “missing out” by not having this picture perfect family… being reminded that Christmas isn’t about having the perfect family time… rather it’s about reflecting upon the GREATEST GIFT that was demonstrated to me through the birth of my personal Savior. That’s what Christmas is really all about… but media and marketing tells us that it’s about having the perfect family time, and it’s really easy to get sucked up in that idea. I don’t share this to gain sympathy… TRUST ME!!! but I just wonder how often we get sucked into this idea that rarely plays out in reality. I think that’s why we like to fantasize and dream… because it takes us away from the pain of reality. Family time can be a very painful time for some people, especially during Christmas time. I hope and pray that if you happen to be reading this and it speaks to your heart, that you’d understand there is so much joy and hope to be found in this season because Christmas is really about the birth of Jesus!
Okay.. here’s my random thought for the evening… back to work!
gloria s. lee 