Being Heart-Ready For Christmas

In the blink of an eye, it’s the middle of December. Where has time gone?

Christmas is fast approaching but up till today, I wasn’t feeling it, my plans largely derailed by the fact that my helper chose to return home on short notice on home leave. So most of December was spent dealing with her travel arrangements and exit permit issues. I chose to do everything without an agent and while doable, it took up a lot of time, time which we all didn’t have. This also coincided with our trip to Hong Kong Disneyland. We had a great time (well, the kids and I did, at least) but now that we’re home, I find myself dealing with a home that is descending into disarray as we struggle to hold everything together.

So Christmas? Not something I had mind space to think about.

But today, I decided that it was time for us to decorate our tree.

Usually we are pretty prompt with getting our tree out and up, but this year was a little different because I decided to get a real tree for a change. Another of those things I’ve always wanted. The husband exasperatedly asked me why there were so many things I’ve always wanted, but he was sweet enough to left me do what I wanted to do. So I asked around a bit and decided to get a Christmas tree from Far East Flora. (The feedback was that their trees are nicer and fuller than the ones from Ikea.) I hopped down nursery before the end of November to lock in the early-bird price and also in the hope of getting my tree earlier. I didn’t however realise that Christmas tree shopping is a competitive sport here in Singapore. It is not for the faint-hearted. All I managed to get was a return date to pick my tree just before we left for Hong Kong and on that day, it was fastest fingers (or hands) first as I tried to quickly pick a tree out of the options before me. I literally had to pick from the few trees standing in front of me cos if I walked away, they would have been taken by someone else. I picked one out, got it delivered just before our trip, then had to leave it standing bare while we left for Hong Kong.

There’s been much to do since we came back but leaving a tree standing without decorating it is just a waste of money. So I finally dragged out the decorations today and we got started. Bit by bit, and with carols playing, we got it together and in the process started getting our hearts and minds right for Christmas.

Like us, my tree is imperfect. It’s a bit lopsided, has a few low lying branches sticking out and it missing that perfect point right at the top for the star. But as we adorned it, it became beautiful. “Wow, it’s so nice!” Mei kept exclaiming. Just as we would be when adorned with the righteousness of Christ, our imperfections covered by the blood of Christ.

Christmas is traditionally a busy time but this year we’ve been forced by circumstances to slow down a bit, and I think it’s a good thing. The house isn’t ready (complete disarray is probably closer to the truth), the presents have not all been bought and there isn’t a big Christmas dinner to cook this year. But we’ll be making time for the things that matter. We finally have some time to get started with Truth in the Tinsel, which, appropriately, would see us making ornaments for our Christmas tree and reading Bible passages and re-telling the Christmas story. I’m excited.

We’re starting to gets our hearts ready to remember the coming of the King, that that is the most important thing of all.