Disclaimer: this should have been posted a few days ago, however, due to the chaos mentioned in the title, it had to wait until now. 😉

Ahhh, Christmas. The season of family gathered around the table, laughter and joy, children sweetly singing carols, and a mug of peppermint hot chocolate to warm your hands…

Gentle snow falls and frosty pink cheeks, Advent devotionals and soft Christmas music…

Celebrating the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, in a peaceful and joyful way, just like the night of His birth is remembered as a peaceful and joy filled occasion.

It would be nice to have a Christmas like the one I described above.

But I’m a teacher… I work in a school… and I spend most of December in a classroom with 23 children.

Excited, hyper, candy cane eating students.

There were program parts to memorize, Christmas cards to make for the retirement home near our school, Christmas artwork to finish and hang on the wall… and of course, reaching a place in our lessons that was a sensible place to stop for 2 weeks of Christmas break.

And there were candy canes.

Everywhere.

I warmly thanked the giver each time, and prepared myself to listen to candy cane wrappers all morning.

I hardly even heard them anymore by the last day… you can get used to anything.

I was frequently reminded of their presence in my classroom though. Wrappers on the floor, students on a sugar high, and papers stuck together with candy cane slime were all ways that kept me keenly aware of the season we’re in.

The program day came.

Dressed up children, with neatly combed hair, entered the school, looking every bit like a peaceful and joyful Christmas without a hint of chaos.

Not everything is as it appears.

The gifts were opened with a sense of urgency that had built up during the scavenger hunt to find them…

All the girls tested their new lotion, and the whole room pulsed with energy as the scent of Vanilla Bean Noel filled the air.

The boys calculated the distance from themselves to me with their new tape measures, cheerfully informing me it was 103″ as the end of the tape line bobbed perilously close to my nose.

Everything was hysterically funny during lunch, and nobody knew why.

Next, we played party games… boisterously, wildly, crazily. It was organized, they were good, things were just very energetic.

I peeked into the hall to see which classes were doing their program, trying to figure out how much time was left before our turn, and I heard my co teacher’s voice from down the hall.

“Angels, that is not a nice way to put your costumes. Please don’t throw them in a heap on the floor; come and put them neatly in the box.”

I grinned.

Apparently the angel choir had had enough of their role and were no longer acting the part.

My students were so keyed up I wondered how we’d ever accomplish 2 straight lines and file silently into the church to sing in 3 part harmony…

But they did. They had perfected their roles and carried them out beautifully, all traces of chaos gone as they sang “O, Children Come.”

“Where the Father’s grace has walked, O children come… Where you see the hurt and lost, O children come…”

Sometimes, in the craziness of the week, I wondered if I’m really teaching these children the true meaning of Christmas.

Yes, we had devotions, and talked about the birth of Jesus, but our days were so full I wondered if Jesus would get forgotten in their excitement for the program and Christmas break. 

Desperately I inserted Jesus into conversations, paused our busy schedule to take time for prayer, discussed good topics that arose, and made sure I poured love into my students…

But no matter how much I cut out, some essential things still had to happen, and some was actually quite a lot. So, the chaos never totally left. It still swirled around every moment I carved out for stillness.

Now, directing them through their program, all of them calm and going through the routine they’d practiced, I realized that this isn’t what Jesus came for.

Jesus didn’t come to a world peace and joy, He came to bring peace and joy, because on our own, we don’t have it.

That night in the stable, with the angels singing and the shepherds worshipping, sounds beautifully calm.

Yet just hours before, Joseph was anxiously knocking on doors in Bethlehem, looking for a place for Mary to give birth to God’s Son. Not to mention the stress of journeying there to be taxed.

The days leading up to Christ’s birth weren’t peaceful and joyful, and He came anyway, right into the middle of the mess that is the world.

And still He comes today, into our chaotic lives, bringing peace and stillness into our hearts as we make room for Him.

The craziness can continue around us, but nothing can take away the calm within as we go through this Advent season.

Jesus has come…

Jesus brings us joy…

And as we carry the light of His love within us this Christmas, everywhere we go and whatever we do, others will see Him shine.

True Light of Jesus, bring us Your peace…

Fill us with joy…

Shine on in our hearts…

Amen!