enough

December brings everything that exhausts me: parties, gatherings, celebrations, deadlines, appointments, performances, expectations, the burden of everyone’s holiday wishes. And I also have to make sure to make time for reflection because, after all, Christmas is all about Jesus.

This year, I tried to come into December a little more prepared than usual. I completed most of my Christmas shopping early and said no to a few activities. I lowered my expectations, and I try to go with the flow.

I’m also so tired. Especially last year and this one, I’ve stumbled into December with a weary heart and frayed mind. I wonder how I can show up in the extravagant ways the season seems to demand when inside I’m running on fumes. I see the twinkle lights and fresh greens and wrapped parcels wondering how my spirit can measure up to the magnitude of the season.

But Jesus came to earth as a baby. He came to a teenage mother in a stable, greeted by animals and shepherds. His entrance was not flashy or grand, His offering His mere presence in the world. The meaning of Christmas is so vast and wonderful and glorious that sometimes I convince myself that the way I participate has to mirror the grandeur of God’s promises, when all my Heavenly Parents want is my heart. They want me to show up in whatever meager way I can (and sometimes my offer feels so very meager). They want me because I’m worthy as I am.

With just over a week left until Christmas, I hold this truth close to my heart. I am enough. I am enough, because He says so. Whatever you celebrate this season, I wish you peace and the knowledge that you are, indeed, enough.