That first imperfect christmas

If you’re like me (and others I know) your holiday reality may be good, but everything’s not perfect.

For example, the Webb family Christmas celebration with our son, daughter, grandchildren, a few spouses, and great-grandchild is scheduled early, which means that Richard and I will spend a very quiet Christmas day alone. We do it this way so our children can spend Christmas with their own families and in-laws.

​Hey, there’s no picture-perfect way to celebrate Christmas. (Contrary to what TV commercials and online articles tell us!) Sometimes things just seem a little off – like tulips in the snow (see the photo), or absent loved ones on Christmas day.

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Even Baby Jesus wasn’t born into a perfect situation, community or family. For example:
​--It’s likely that teenage Mary’s friends shunned her for being pregnant before she and Joseph lived together as husband and wife. It wasn’t fair. They didn’t understand. 
--Joseph had few supplies and a full-term pregnant wife to care for on that long uncomfortable journey to Bethlehem. Didn’t anyone care? 
--Once they arrived, they found no decent place to stay. What’s good about that?​
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​Yet God delivered His perfect Son anyway, probably on a scratchy patch of straw. Jesus agreed to leave His Father’s side to live with us in imperfection from infancy to adolescence to adulthood and then death on a cross, so we could have the opportunity to reconnect with a flawless, almighty, gracious and loving God.

Consequently, He is not surprised by our human limitations or repulsed by our inherent messiness. He understands and He redeems.

​With Jesus as our example, we can stop the silent demand that imperfection go away. He gives us imperfect joy now and the hope of flawless delight later in heaven with Him. Now that’s Christmas relief!

​I’m wondering: What does Jesus mean to you this imperfect Christmas 2025? What would you like for Him to mean to you?

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