By Debora Coty
I always feel a bit assaulted by the joy-sucking dully-funks while putting away the Christmas decorations and disrobing the poor naked tree, don’t you? Gone are the manger scene, colorful ornaments and illustrious reminders of this happy, holy season.
Cheerful carols heralding our Savior’s birth are replaced by the sound of the cat hocking up fur balls.
The aroma of freshly baked cookies is but a succulent memory as you crankily nibble a fistful of baby carrots.
The once festive house suddenly seems so dull. So blah. So deflated. And I find if I’m not careful, my spirit suffers the same letdown.
Sorta like the way you feel after gearing up for the big game in your team jersey, cheerleader socks, and logo hat, and then missing the playoffs by the width of an eyelash.
Or when you buy a smashing new outfit for the gala affair and discover when you get home that your back zipper was down the whole night and your tush was bulging forth like poppin’ fresh dough. And when you confront your husband with, “Why on earth didn’t you TELL me?” he replies, “Uhh … I thought you knew.”
Not that this has ever happened to me, of course.
But, okay. It’s far too easy to pack away Christ with the Christmas boxes. I suspect it grieves Papa God to see us relegate His good tidings of great joy to only 1/12th of the year. For some of us crazy-busy folks, maybe it’s even just one week of the year.
I have a feeling He’d rather us spread that joy around a little thicker. Like great globs of chunky peanut butter, not skimpy smears of creamy.
We worked so hard to keep Christ in Christmas. Won’t you join me in now striving to keep Christ outside of Christmas too?
I can pretty much guarantee our life-sharers will be ecstatically grateful if we try to exude a little more year-round love, joy and goodwill.
But, well … maybe not fruitcake.
“Let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy” (Psalm 68:3 NLT).
