The Both/And... Thoughts on Christmas 2020

Let’s pretend you are opening a lovely holiday card where our smiling faces greet you along with a glittering holiday salutation. The card smells faintly of cinnamon and pine (I spritz my holiday mail with oils that remind me of Christmas), and you feel our love and fondness for you when you open it. Know that all of the sentiment is there this year my friend, but that the energy to pull off that feat was not. Normally I would feel bad about this, but I’m guessing you can relate in some way… because it’s been one crazy year. Am I right?

The truth is that instead of sprinting across the finish line of 2020, many of us are limping into what we pray is a new and better season. My limp may look different than yours, but the sense of weariness is evident everywhere I look. There has been hard in this season - and there has also been good.

With each passing year I become more acquainted with the “both/and” of life. Joy and grief are intertwined as if they are doing a delicate dance. Neither is ever completely absent. Sometimes one of them sits out for a song or two and gives the spotlight to the other, but both are always present.

Like you, our year has held highs and lows. They have danced throughout our days in ways we never could have anticipated or known to prepare for. We have known great joy, and grieved great losses. Most of these griefs are shared with friends across our dining room tables - not on social media. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist, it just makes sense to share and process the hard things with people who can pour into our lives more than a double tap.

We have also had many joys - extra time with family, stronger connection with friends, and learning and trying new things. We have been able to strengthen muscles and skills that have long been dormant - like teaching elementary reading and math. It’s allowed our kids to see that we struggle daily too, and that you may actually have to know how to divide fractions one day. We have seen love do big things from birthday parades to quarantine goodie bags, to honoring those who show up for the hard stuff each and every day. We have seen God work miracles, people come back to life from the brink of death, and watched friends pursue their dreams in courageous ways.

As we look forward into a new year I have hope - not in a political party, not in my bank account, not in the change of a calendar - but hope that the same God who has been faithful for thousands of years isn’t giving up now, and he’s not giving up with me (or you).

Merry Christmas my friend - many blessings to your family, from ours.

Nate, Theresa, Kingston, Ruby and Bruce