"385 WAYS TO DAZZLE FAMILY & FRIENDS"
That's what it said right there on the cover of Southern Living. And with a picture to boot of a spectacularly beautiful and luscious looking cake perched beside the headline. And there are "155 HOLIDAY RECIPES!" and "114 GRACIOUS GIFT IDEAS" inside the magazine's covers as well. O mercy, we better get working, working, working right this minute! Not to mention the back cover features a gorgeous young blond in a slinky gold dress and bedecked in jewels. Yeah, I look like that a lot over the holidays.
Okay, not to sound like the Grinch, but these editors are clearly living in Martha Stewart la-la land. Yeah, sure, maybe some of you out there are Super-Duper-Fabulous-Incredible-Organized cooks and moms and spouses and decorators...all rolled into one. If so, stop reading this immediately and run pick up a copy of Southern Living or Martha Stewart Living and go all out over these next few weeks. More power to you...though I don't think I want to invite you over to our house.
Because here's the thing--I'm not good at "dazzling" my loved ones--especially when it comes to cooking, cleaning, and decorating. My family would probably read that and laugh, "Ya think? Duh!" Dazzling clearly isn't the word that comes to mind when it comes to my very limited repertoire, limited time, and even more limited skill set.
Oh my, how I wish I could dazzle, decorate, cook, and look like Giada whatever-her-name is on the Food Network. Who wouldn't love to create that "magical" Christmas about which the magazine cover boasts?
But here's what I know--none of us (and certainly not yours truly) can ever live up to the impossible standards of perfectionism and dazzling magic that our culture promotes and that we often place upon ourselves during the holidays. And when we try--and fail yet again--we exhaust ourselves and grow discouraged and even bitter in the whole ugly process.
Dazzling, I've found, does not produce the godly characteristics God longs to see in us. And even worse, our often futile but zealous attempts at dazzling cause us to forget the very reason and purpose that originally lurks deep behind our dazzling goals--to LOVE our families and friends!
Why do we want to have lovely homes of refuge and rest that reflect the joy of the holidays? Why do we want to cook good food to nourish and strengthen our loved ones? Because we LOVE those people, that's why! Because we want to REJOICE together with them for all the manifold ways God has blessed us. Because we want to experience a truly thankful Thanksgiving!
And because we want to CELEBRATE and REVEL in the wonder of God--the Almighty, Sovereign, Omnipotent, Omniscient, All-glorious Lord of the universe--coming down to earth as a helpless, dependent, fragile infant...for us! Can you believe that? For you, for me...even with our sorry and selfish attitudes and our prideful self-sufficiency. Because "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) That's far beyond dazzling love, isn't it?
How can we not rejoice in the astounding, eternity-altering wonder of that...and celebrate it with JOY with those that we love?
But you know what--for many of us, that means forgetting about dazzling and focusing instead upon delighting. Delighting first in our Savior who is both the Greatest Giver and also the Greatest Gift. And gifts call for rejoicing and thanking, do they not?
And secondly delighting in those that Christ has so generously loaned to us for our brief sojourn on this planet. Delighting in our children (instead of always finding fault or looking for ways they can "improve"). Delighting in our spouses (maybe we need to do a little dying to ourselves and our selfishness and pride in this category, no?). Delighting in parents, in our brothers and sisters, and in our friends. Delighting in these eternal souls lovingly hand-crafted by their Creator--souls for whom His love was so infinitely great that He came to live and love and serve and die for them.
Jesus didn't seek to dazzle them, did He? No, the Savior simply delighted in those He had made...and then He steadfastly went to the cross to die for them.
So this Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm laying aside my goal of dazzling in favor of a much humbler--but far harder and greater--hope. To die to myself. And to delight in God and those He's placed in my life. I may not bake any show-stopping cakes or purchase perfect gifts for everyone or live in a magically decorated Christmas palace. But if I can love and serve unselfishly, if I can share a thankful, contented heart, if I can rejoice in God's goodness and greatness...well, then, I think we'll be good around here. Even without the dazzling.
Because nothing's more dazzling than the love of Christ and the joy He gives.
To God be the glory.
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