Christmas is the dream season. Visions of more than sugar-plums dance in our heads, as we make ourdream list, consider our bank account, and prepare to spend dreamy, Leave-it-to-Beaver time with our friends and family. Or do we?
For some, childhood Christmas dreams were just like the storybooks said they would be. Cookies and milk were set out for Santa the night before, packages were neatly wrapped under the tree, and on Christmas Eve dad read Twas the Night Before Christmas to the kids before mom shooed them off to bed.
But for others, Christmas dreams were not dreams at all but painful nightmares of family fights, little or no presents, favoritism, estrangement, and pain.
My Christmas Dreams were a mixture of both. Sounds funny I know, but a lot depended on how my less-than-loved-one was coping at the time. Ifmy less-than-loved-one’slife and marriage was in a good place, then Santa sang, reindeers flew, and there were special presents under the tree.
But if my less-than-loved-one’s life and marriage was not in a good place, then Santa was an overbearing taskmaster waiting to take another present away for misbehavior, the reindeer’s feed cost too much, and although there were presents under the tree, they were filled mostly with life’s necessities like socks and underwear. (Please don’t misunderstand, I get it that sometimes that is all the $$ there are, just drawing a comparison to “good times” versus “bad times” financially and otherwise)
The Grief Recovery Program® talks a lot about dealing withour good and not-so-good experiences. It is one of the core reasons why, as a Grief Recovery Specialist®, I loveteaching the Grief Recovery Tools® . The tools work because they help us to look inside and evaluate who we are and what’s happened in our lives to make us who we are.
But back to Christmas Dreams.
What were your Christmas Dreams of the past?
My husband grew up poor, one of 9 children, in a not-so-nice area of Blytheville, Arkansas. His Christmas stocking was an actual man’s sock and was filled with oranges, apples, and possibly a small matchbox car. He had some less-than-loved-ones in his childhood, but there were many good memories mixed in with the not-so-good. Those were his Christmas Dreams of the past.
What are your Christmas Dreams today?
For my husband, his Christmas Dreams for today are to give good, solid Christmas memories to our children and grandchildren. That, when they think back on their Christmas Dreams, they will be full of love, camaraderie, and specialness.
Today, on this week before Christmas, think about your Christmas Dreams ofthe past and offer them up to Jesus. If they were good dreams, thank Him for a childhood of peace, joy, and security. If they were nightmares, thank Him for helping you to make it through to the place that you are today, for being with you, for giving you a hope and a future. And ifyour Christmas Dreamswere somewhere in between, thankJesus for that too. For the ups and downs of life and the blessing of being planted in a family that did the best they could with the life tools they were given.
Whichever type of Christmas Dream you may have had, be sensitive to those around you whose Christmas Dreams may have been different: A coworker who went through a divorce earlier this year, a friend who lost their job, a neighbor who seems to never get visitors, a church member whose family never comes to visit, a single-mom with lots of kids and even more bills.
Let’s Pray:
Precious Lord Jesus, you know every Christmas Dream we have ever had. You saw when the easy-bake oven was taken away because she sneaked a peak through the wrapping. You saw the earnest trying of the single parent to find some way to make sure the Frozen® Barbie doll will be under the tree. You understand the rejections we have suffered at those who were supposed to love us. You also saw the outpouring of love and sacrifice of those who did without so that we could have. Make us sensitive today Lord. Help us to see the people in our lives the way you do. To love them. To care for them. To be genuinely interested in their Christmas Dreams. And help us Lord, to remember YOU this Christmas season. Help us never, ever forget that you came in human form to bleed and die and suffer for our sake. We love you Jesus. Thank-you for offering the best Christmas Dream ever. The promise of an eternal future with YOU. Amen.