Still A Good Christmas

 As my community begins to put itself back together following the devastating earthquake on November 30th, I somehow feel like this holiday season will be different than most. 

For many Alaskans, to simply have their family, their life, their health and, in most cases, a roof still over their heads is enough. While quite a number of people lost personal items, there is a prevailing feeling that Christmas will still be salvaged. It will still be a good holiday season because we've still all got one another. And we've still got Him. God with us. In our midst. Forever Emmanuel. 

Hearts have been shaken but not broken. These brave souls will make it. Will heal. Will come back from this - because nobody suffers alone. 

And so Advent arrives to find us in a bit of a different frame of mind than usual. Instead of shopping for stuff, folks are cleaning up stuff. Broken pieces. Shards. Making runs to the dump with shattered reminders of their lives. But somehow, I get the sense that deep inside, they're supremely grateful for what's most important and determined to get on with the celebration of His coming in spite of the loss. 

Just maybe the descending of God to earth is more felt in a season when you've lost everything? Perhaps you clutch at hope a bit tighter when you've had to let go of much... 

Because He comes to those whose hearts are emptied to receive Him. Who welcome Him with open hands. 

This Christmas will be unlike many we've experienced because, let's face it: it will take quite some time for lives to recover from this upending. Some folks can't even inhabit their own homes for awhile until they are repaired. Some people have been left home-less altogether as the quake took a roof from over the heads and destroyed their homes completely. Transportation was more complicated as construction workers attempted to fight the brutal winter in order to temporarily fix broken roads. Grocery stores were behind in their shipments, so access to items was a bit slower and more limited for a time. Yet still, the people are sharing. 

It's what you do in a time of tragedy - those who fare better become a refuge for the hurting because our God is a refuge for us. You share what you have with those who have not. Because He gives abundantly. You love freely on those who struggle because God demonstrated His own love to us when we least deserved it. 

Maybe Christmas has to be altered this year - less fragile ornaments on the tree because of the aftershocks, less presents under the tree because of the financial toll this has taken on Alaska residents - but Christmas will not be lost. We will still gather. We will still celebrate. We will still be together. Because together-ness is what gets you through. 

As I think on what could've been in this tragedy and how little was lost in the big picture of things, I feel it deeper in my heart than most years... 

God is with us. The promise that was given in a Manger over two thousand years ago still rings true today. He has never left us. And He never will. 

So...let every yearning heart prepare Him room. The Lord has come.