Hey Fam!

Welcome to #vlogmas Week 2!

Every year, I make this long list of all the Christmas events I’m going to attend; tree lightings, Nutcracker performances, all the things. Inevitably, friends cancel, plans change and I can’t make all those events. By the middle of the month, I’m left feeling very much out of the holiday spirit. This has happened for the last few years. When it happened this year, I paid attention. While there’s nothing wrong with going to a tree lighting or visiting a Christmas village, none of these things have anything to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. My cancellations were a sign to change my priorities. Instead of going to a tree lighting, I attended a school Christmas concert with my family. The concert was great and I felt like I celebrated in a way that was more authentic than if I had attended the tree lighting ceremony. And maybe that’s the point.

A few years ago, I watched the Hallmark movie, Christmas at the Golden Dragon. While I find most Hallmark movies predictable, I love the mysteries and the Christmas movies. Anyway, this movie is centered around a Chinese family who owns the local Chinese restaurant in their town. Their daughter, Romy, bemoans the fact that she and her brother grew up having to spend Christmas working at the restaurant instead of doing all the fun Christmas things they believed their peers were involved in. Romy is invited to spend Christmas with her non-Chinese boyfriend’s family. Initially she’s excited because she thinks they’re going to do all the things she missed out on as a kid. But she’s disappointed to discover that those things aren’t a part of his family’s Christmas traditions. Enter the news that her parents are selling the restaurant. She and her brother decide to make the restaurant’s last Christmas the best and in doing so, she learns what a pivotal role her family’s restaurant played in the community’s Christmas traditions.

There are several storylines in this movie but what I took away from it is that it’s okay if your holiday traditions look different from what you see on television and in movies. We get so caught up in what the entertainment industry says Christmas is about, that we forget what it’s really about. So if you’re stressing yourself out trying to create the perfect Christmas, I invite you to dig deep and reflect on ways to celebrate that are authentic and Christ-honoring. That may mean volunteering somewhere to help the less fortunate or prioritizing family time over checking off yet another event. 

Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you remember the true reason for the season and celebrate authentically!