With the holiday season among us it is really important that we take time to reflect on what the holidays truly mean to us. We feel this would be a great time to invite one of our dedicated followers to weigh in on our blog. With this, Ivory House is proud to introduce our first guest blogger, Jennifer Lewis. As a good friend, a true inspiration to others, and not to mention fabulous writer, Jennifer discusses what the holidays truly mean to her. We hope you enjoy!
"Up until last year, I had never been “into” Christmas. In all honesty, I usually outright told people I disdained it. Too much money is spent on gifts that no one needed. Too many fights erupted between loved ones who are supposed to be embracing each other. Too many people who don’t have families are being reminded of their loneliness. I downright hated the season, the songs, the lights, the gifts. I just couldn’t see past the hypocritical nature of society during that time of year. I was soaked with negativity. For the first time ever last winter, I dedicated some time to truly learning the story of Christmas. I read through Mary being told of her pregnancy, to her and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, to a tiny baby being born in a manger. I read about angels singing from the Heavens and shepherds and wise men coming from miles to bear witness to the birth of a great King. And I found that this is an amazing story full of so much love and joy that I was embarrassed to have held so much contempt about the season.
The more I read the Word the more I was drawn to Mary. Although we come from two completely different worlds, I found myself admiring so many traits of this young woman. Mary was a youthful, unmarried virgin who surely had a much different picture of her life than what was about to unfold. Yet when an angel told Mary, a woman who had never laid with a man, that she would soon be a mother, Mary responded “I am a servant of the Lord, may it be according to His word”. Wow. How much I can learn from that. See, in Mary’s time having a child out-of-wedlock could potentially devastate life as she knew it. Actually, it almost surely would. Yet Mary surrendered her life in the moment to God and His will. She didn’t know the whole picture, she simply had to have faith. Mary was chosen by God to play a pivotal role in the best story ever told. And in a time when denying God would have been a completely natural instinct, instead of running, instead of dripping with negativity, rather than choosing her own will, Mary chose to trust the angel. To have faith that no word from God would ever fail. To surrender.
And I'm over here mad because I couldn't find my 20% off Kohl's coupon and I really, really didn't want to bake another Christmas cookie.
Faith and joy and peace are difficult. They’re hard. Especially when you have little faith and specifically in a time of year when delight seems to come so easily to those around you. But to live a life of true Christian love is to surrender to Christ. To embrace God’s will. It’s remembering that the good news of the gospel far outweighs the bad news of this world.
This year, I will find joy in wrapping gifts, seeing Christmas lights, and making a whole mess of fat-filled peanut butter blossoms with Christmas carols on repeat through my house. I will embrace this opportunity to celebrate my Creator, because it is the very least I could do for the man who died on a cross for me. The Good News is that Jesus, the King of Kings, is born to this world to remove our sins by way of perfect sacrifice. It's a beautiful and sacred gift to be celebrated. I will choose to take note from Mary...I am a servant of the Lord, and I will live according to His word,
Merry Christmas to all,
Jennifer Lewis "
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