when christmas isn't perfect

What do you do when your “perfect” holiday isn’t going as it should?
When it takes more energy than you have just to make it good?
 
When your family is separated by distant hearts or long miles,
And all you can feel is tears, instead of smiles?
 
When you look for that perfect gift that just doesn’t exist
Or your fudge just won’t set right no matter how you persist.
 
When your favorite movies don’t make you want more,
And the books don’t move you like they all did before.
 
When the music falls flat and the bells just don’t ring,
And you just aren’t feeling the songs that you sing.
 
When the parties and services fail to fill you with joy
And your heart is too burdened to laugh and enjoy.
 
Your car breaks down, and your washer quits too.
Your water goes out, and you think your boss hates you.
 
When all your expectations of a perfect Christmas fall through,
How can you celebrate? What more can you do?
 
First, STOP with all the stuff of the season.
Remember the meaning, the source, and the reason.
 
It’s not the shopping or baking or watching or singing.
It’s not the tree lights or eggnog or bells sweetly ringing.
 
It’s the babe who was born, our Lord, King and Savior.
This tiny sweet boy, asleep in a manger.
 
His first Christmas fell short too, in most every way.
His room was a stable, his bed made of hay.
 
No parties or bows to celebrate the birth
Of the Master and Creator over all of the earth.
 
Yet He came anyway, to save His creation,
To live and to serve, then die for the nations.
 
But He rose again in triumph and glory
So that we could be saved and tell others the story.
 
The babe in a manger, born one starry night,
Now a king full of glory and power and might.
 
So, if your Christmas is full of hurt and sadness
May this message fill your heart with joy and gladness.
 
That first imperfect Christmas
Was made perfect because of Jesus.
 
No gift will ever be better than the One God has given,
His Son, wrapped in flesh, come down straight from Heaven.
 
No song will ever be sweeter than the one angels sang:
“Glory to God in the highest,” their praises rang.
 
Christmas still comes to those who will seek,
To the lonely, the sad, the lost, and the meek.
 
May you accept His gift of love and salvation
And let your heart be aglow in perfect celebration.