A few weeks ago I shared the details of the change that our family is facing.  As November marched on, I found myself dreading all of the main change happening in December. How would I pack and tie up the loose ends for an international move, and still get everything done for just the normal Christmas activities for family and church? It was daunting.

But then December dawned, and with it a calm. This year we have a 3 foot artificial tree, decorated with ornaments from my childhood and from our first year as a married couple. As I put the finishing touches on our twinkling tree, I said to my husband, “I think this is my favourite tree ever.”

“You say that every year,” he said. Hmm….yes, I think I do. But this year is special for a different reason. In some ways everything seems out of control, unpredictable, and upside down.

I thought that a small tree would be a disappointment to our children, but it has brought such delight to all of us just by being small. {Small is beautiful, after all.}

I thought that having boxes everywhere would bring it’s own level of chaos, but instead it is bringing order. {Purging feels wonderful.}

I thought that the schedule would be packed to resemble insanity, but I’ve found more time to just be still than in some previous months. {Busy-ness is overrated.}

I didn’t feel ready to play the piano for our Christmas cantata this year, but God reminded me a few hours beforehand that He would provide Himself as my help. “You play for Me, and I’ll play for you,” He whispered.  Wow. {Mistakes and all, it couldn’t have been more perfect.}

I thought that I wouldn’t have enough time to spend with the people we love, but our calendar is full of invitations and our home has been flooded with repeated visits from church friends, college students, and brand new baby snuggles.  {Hospitality in the middle of a move is just….amazing!}

I thought about cancelling our annual Christmas open house, but in the end we decided it is the very thing we need to do in order to have a chance to love on our people one more time. {Just pack the living room last!}

I thought that moving in December would bring unimaginable stress, but instead it is the very thing that is redeeming this season.  The pressure is off and expectations are low. Control is not an option, and every day brings a fresh need to live by faith and receive and extend grace.

Some things that I thought would bring stress are bringing calm. Because when you turn everything upside down, a miracle happens. Have you ever been mesmerized by an hour glass? When you begin to turn it upside down, the grains shift wildly at first, lurching from one side to another. Then an interesting thing happens as the glass is restored to an upright position. A bit of order is restored and the sand levels off and looks flat. Yet right through the middle, slowly the grains begin to slip through that narrow, squeezing space that feels all choked. But wait….something is happening:

The falling grains build a mountain, slowly and surely. This is the miracle of God’s upside down ways.

What is squeezing and lurching and shifting you now is actually building a new mountain top for you to praise Him from. The very thing that is draining the heart and soul out of you is creating a high point for the future. Can you see it?! Only by faith.

Yes, even in your life, through the pain and the  drama and the nonsensical stuff…through the unknown and the instability and the questions and the moments of fear- Soon you’ll have a new mountain {to climb?} and only open sky above.  You’ll see so much more than you can see now. And the sacrifice of praise that you’ve been offering lately? It will come a bit more easily- it will gush and overflow and overwhelm.

This is why I prefer an upside down Christmas. I love watching God take my fears and uncertainties and turn them into hidden strengths and joys and unexpected comforts. Perhaps your Christmas is feeling a bit upside down? Let’s embrace it together and see what God will do in our lives!

XOXO,

A Kindred Spirit