Imagine a journey of two years, a star, and finding the ordinary. I’ve had this happen before in smaller ways like vacation plans, dinner reservations, and in complex ways like parenting and marriage. Your plans and expectations challenged by the reality of the situation. What you had hoped for versus what is actually happening around you. I heard a message that emphasized the wise men–brilliant, wealthy, and adventurous souls. They travelled so far to find not just ordinary, but a sense of poverty, not majesty of a king. We are told that they fell to their knees to worship and to impart gifts. Gifts that they prepared in advance to give Jesus. Honestly, I’ve been in situations in which my expectations and the outcomes were so drastically different, that I became positioned to worry and not to worship. With tight-fisted hands, my gifts were held back until I felt heard, validated, or I witnessed a miracle or change.

This Christmas as we draw near to the day we celebrate His birth, I wonder if we can position ourselves with humility and awe. Babies will cry, children will tantrum, spouses will disappoint, loss will be felt like a heavy cloak, and you will ride the emotional roller coaster of anticipation along with all the things out of your control dancing around you.

God is in the response. How we love and forgive ourselves along with extending grace to a hurting world will draw us near to Him. The hope of a baby born into a world that was far from perfect. Let us not aim for perfect in ourselves or others. Journey to the manger, the tiny, helpless baby, the King and kneel. Offer your gifts to Him.

What gifts do I have to give a King? Just like the wise men who prepared gifts ahead of time. God has prepared in advance gifts that only you possess.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

At this point in the post, I close my eyes and pray for anyone reading this. I pray that you see your very being as a gift to the world. Your smile, responses, kindness, forgiveness, your very DNA that God crafted and molded are gifts to a world that is in need of such things.

The greatest gift you can give God is to know your worth and live in His love. How will you show up this Christmas? I pray you can find a sense of peace that surpasses all understanding. I pray that you look into the eyes of that tiny baby and know why He came. Yes, He came for the world, but my precious friend, He also came just for you. He loves you.

Blessings and peace….