Too Perfect?

The month of December has had a theme of Christmas posts this year. I think that might be a first for me on this blog. I get frustrated with the endless Christmas "stuff" you see everywhere you go in December and so I tend to avoid it on my blog. But for some reason, this year the Christmas posts is what came. Since it's Christmas Eve (almost Christmas day) as I write this, it will (probably) be the last until next December.

Right now I'm sitting in my living room after a busy, but really good day. Just the lights from my tree on. And one of my favourite Christmas CDs playing. It's one of those moments where I find myself reflecting on the events of the day.

Lot of different things happening. Work. Time with extended family. Laughter and puzzles with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law. Christmas Eve service at church. A good day.

At the service tonight, the kids acted out the story of Jesus' birth, and another kid read the story as they did. It wasn't perfect, but that didn't matter. They were definitely cute as they acted it out.

Honestly, the birth of Jesus wasn't perfect either.

A stable. Surrounded by donkeys and sheep. Greeted by shepherds.

A scandalous story of how his mother became pregnant with Him.

Two people who trusted God when given a challenging task.

I wonder if sometimes we get so caught up in trying to make things perfect that we miss the point. We work so hard at trying to make sure everything about Christmas goes exactly as we want it to.

The right gifts for every person and lots of them under the tree.

The perfect meal prepared and everyone gathered around the table.

A house decorated just right. Nothing out of place. Everything clean.

But, in our pursuit of perfection we miss it. We miss that Jesus didn't come for the perfect. He didn't come for those who have it all together.

Jesus was born in the furthest from perfect scenario you could imagine. To the "wrong" people. His birth was not the birth of a King.

But it was exactly the way He needed to come into the world. He came in humbly. He came to save everyone, no matter the circumstances of their life.

Maybe we don't need to be so focused on everything being perfect this time of year. Maybe what's important is to remember the birth of our Savior - a birth that changed the world.

There's nothing wrong with the rest. But it can't be all we focus on. We have to be careful no to get so caught up in trying to make things perfect that we miss the point.