Making space in the Mess-terpiece

Entering the Christmas season, I had all the details already formed in my mind. It would be perfect. We would sip hot chocolate, blast the Christmas music, and decorate our home to rival any Better Homes and Gardens magazine page. Naturally, this would all be done while smiling and laughing. This would be the best Christmas season a blended family ever had!

I’m sure you can guess that it did not go the way I had planned.

Hubs and I were 4 months into blending two families, each with a 7-year-old boy and established traditions. He entered the marriage with a Homer Simpson talking Santa stuck in a chimney…to be prominently displayed on my BH&G themed mantel. Along with Homer, our stockings were mismatched and my boys continued to add random “decorations” making the focal point mantel a bit eclectic rather than classic chic.

Within 20 minutes of decorating, my bonus son was sent to his room for some calm down time and my biological son was laid out on the couch sick. Tears burned my eyes because this was not how it was supposed to go. My perfect plans were crashing down around me and my heart fell fast with it.

When the tree was fully decorated and my vision of our first Christmas decorating a bust, I felt my youngest’s hand take mine. He looked in awe at our tree all lit up with its mix of ornaments and beads.

“Mommy, this is my favorite Christmas tree in my whole life! All our old ornaments from before we were married are here but on one tree because we are one family now! Isn’t it beautiful?”

The next day, my boys checked on their “Merry Christmas” gel letters on the front door that were to be the prized décor to welcome our guests, only to see them smearing down the door in a pathetic display.

My oldest threw his hands up and shouted, “It’s a wonderful mess-terpiece!” Out of the mouth of babes!

Family, friends, life: isn’t it all a beautiful mess-terpiece?

All through the Bible, we see how God uses the messy lives of His people to tell the story of His redeeming love and grace. Even the Christmas story is a messy story of a young couple who expected to give birth to the Savior in an inn but found themselves in a stable surrounded by smelly animals and darkness.

They could have seen their lack, focused on the darkness, and everything that was going “wrong.” Rather, they did what we have come to see as Mary’s mode of operation; they let go of their expectations to make room for God’s work in the mess and anticipated the glory of His work.

When we put ourselves in the position as lords of our lives, we bring along all of our expectations, hurts, and fears. However, when we open our hands from the false image of control, we can now take His hand and be guided in truth, peace, and anticipation. When we move aside for the King of kings to reign, our eyes are open to the beauty He is bringing forth from this messy, broken, beautiful life.

I mean, This is Jesus, who left the perfection of Heaven to be in relationship with us.

This is Jesus who prayed in the garden for God to pick another way but gave space to God’s plan.

This is Jesus, who brought forth eternal life from His own death for a people who were messy and broken.

God used my boys to help me see what I perceived as a disaster for what it really was. It was God tapping me on the shoulder and gently reminding me that I was holding tightly onto the things of this world rather than basking in the light of His presence. 

I am so grateful for this sweet teaching! During our break, we survived colds, sinus infections, stomach flu, and food poisoning among the 6 Christmas celebrations we had with family. It was NOT the perfect Christmas I planned in my mind but it was our perfect first Christmas as I made space for God in our family and in my heart in the midst of our mess-terpiece.