
Family—even if you somehow made it through the rest of the year without giving yours much thought, Christmas would immediately remind you that you have one. Why is the holiday season so hectic? Family. Why is your calendar suddenly full and your schedule impossible to work out? Family. Then again, maybe I shouldn't speak for you:) It's one of the great wonders of marriage that two people instantly start a new family just by saying "I do." Not only that, but they make complete strangers part of each other's families. Dave and I are lucky. Each of our families welcomed the other. I love my in-laws. And as for my folks? Anytime I make the mistake of complaining to them about a disagreement I've had with my husband, I usually hear, "Maybe you should listen to Dave" or "Well, Dave does have a good point." He absolutely loves that. This week has been completely out of control as we've scrambled to get Christmas cards to both sides of our family, send a long-distance remembrance to Dave's parents—and deal with Daddy. Daddy always manages to make Christmas interesting. There was the year he HAD to have a wool, camel-colored sport coat, which I drove all over Birmingham searching for in his size (in the rain during rush hour) only to have him return it after Christmas. The year of the new fly rod. (That was a very good year.) The year of the warm bathrobe (another good one), which he still wears for TV viewing. This year, he insisted that he didn't want Mama to buy a certain electronic toy she had planned on getting him. He said he might prefer to use that money for new carpet. Right. Daddy really wants carpet. Toy purchased. Lest you think I've gone totally commercial, I know that Christmas isn't about stuff. But it is very much about love—about sharing and showing love. And it's also about family. God didn't send His only Son to earth in isolation. He sent Him here through an earthly family. The Bible says that, when the boy Jesus was teaching in the temple and Mary and Joseph couldn't find Him, they panicked—just as any parents would if they thought their child was lost. As an adult, Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding. Why? For His mother. And even as He suffered on the cross, He watched over Mary, putting her in the care of His beloved disciple, John:
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother,
Woman, behold thy son!
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!
And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
John 19: 25-27 (KJV)
My own family has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. I know how to love other people because of them. I believe I have an obligation to help other people because of them. And even when I've lived far away from them, I've always known that I wasn't alone. When I look at the Nativity my mother gave me years ago, it reminds me to be thankful, not only for the Holy Family but also for the gift of family, both earthly and divine.
After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
"Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Luke 2: 46-52 (NIV)