Yesterday was my last day in the office before Christmas. We had our Christmas party and some of us won’t see each other again until 2020. Others have a few days’ work left yet! As I drove home, rather than feeling the usual excitement of finishing work for Christmas, I found myself a little overwhelmed… Overwhelmed at the thought of facing Christmas (and the New Year!) with so much uncertainty about what we will face in the year ahead… Overwhelmed at the thought of having more thinking space during the holidays… Overwhelmed at being without the support of my work community in the next few weeks… Overwhelmed at the thought of the adrenaline drop that might come after the buzz of the busy run up to Christmas… Overwhelmed at the thought of trying our best to keep everyone well so that we can be together over Christmas with no hospital stays… Overwhelmed with the pressure to have the best Christmas ever when reality is that life in our family of 6 is busy and loud at the best of times and we will all have meltdowns…

Then this morning No. 3 son pushed a card under the bathroom door and left for school. The card was so thoughtfully made and inside he had written “Have the best Christmas possible!!!!!” We always talk about No. 3 son being the one who hears from God and that simple line brought tears to my eyes! It didn’t say “Have a perfect Christmas”. It didn’t say “Have the best Christmas ever”. It said have the best Christmas “possible”.

Christmas this year is different. It has been different for the last 3 years and it will always be different. We’ve already learnt that expecting perfect is unrealistic but I really needed the reminder and the reassurance that the best we can do is what is “possible”. I expect that as we spend time together as a family this Christmas the “possible” will look different for each new day. No doubt there will be days where we feel joy-filled and awestruck at the goodness of God and the blessings of our four boys (plus one puppy and one elderly cat), family, friends and community. No doubt there will be days when sadness weighs heavily and we just don’t feel like doing anything. No doubt there will be days when we laugh at silly things. No doubt there will be days when we cry or get cross over small things. Some days we might experience a mixture of them all!

I hope that whatever each day holds we will only focus on the “possible” and not the “perfect”. We won’t have a perfect Christmas but we will have the best Christmas possible and I trust it will be more life-giving by far!