Love in the Details

Hello. My name is Laura and I am a Martha.

Jesus and his disciples visit a village where Martha welcomes them into her home. Martha serves Jesus, but becomes distracted and asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her. Jesus responds, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her”.

Luke 10:38-42( NIV)

I have the spiritual gift of hospitality. I almost took my perspective of hospitality too far this Christmas. Which, is what makes me a Martha.

Last week, I wrote a post on “Surrendering our Moments.” In the post I talked about moments when life isn’t showing up how I would like. This Christmas, I almost let my gift of hospitality lead to disappointment. Christmas Eve did not turn out as I initially envisioned.

I love going with my family to the Christmas Eve church service. It has become our tradition. After the service, we would come home, share hors d’oeuvres, play games, and open one gift.

Just as in years past, I spend days preparing the perfect Hors d’oeuvres. Everything from scratch of course! It would be cheating to buy something frozen or prepared by the store. At least that’s how my hospitality brain works.

Christmas eve day, was spent getting everything set up. The tables looking perfect. With just the right decorations and placement of dishes. Lighting the house so it felt inviting and placing candles to show the perfect ambiance.

Let me set the stage a little more for you. Christmas eve of the past was mostly adults. This year, I knew that Christmas eve would include my one and three year old grand kids. I planned for that as well.

I made hors d’oeuvres that included homemade popcorn chicken as well as pull apart pigs in a blanket. I also pulled out the bible stories book from when my kids were little. We were going to read the Christmas story and it would all be just like a Hallmark movie.

NOT!

My daughter in law and her parents were involved in both Christmas eve services. This meant they wouldn’t get to the house until 7:30. So, I had to adjust a bit. The grand kids would be hungry and would be too tired by 7:30. So, I began heating up the food I knew they would like and feed them early.

Needless to say, they didn’t want what was prepared. Made from scratch was not the food they were typically used to. Which I should’ve known since my own kids only liked Kraft mac and cheese. The kids wanted to play and were excited about all the activities of Christmas!

I began feeling a bit overwhelmed.

What I am proud to say, is that I showed up and shifted my perspective!

I knew that how I perceived the moment would be my reality. I wanted my reality to be filled with joy, blessings, and wonderful memories.

I let go of the perfect table setting and ambiance. I put all the food on the table and told everyone to just help themselves. I played with the grand kids and joined the conversation. We looked at pictures of past Christmas’ and reminisced on the joy filled memories.

Now, I also didn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, as the saying goes. I also saw the love in the details.

Love was shown in the time I spent to make everything beautiful for the beautiful people I love. How I took joy in making everyone feel special. With just the right decorations and placement of dishes. Ensuring the lighting in the house was perfect, which made it feel inviting. Placing candles to create the perfect ambiance.

The point wasn’t to show off my pretty things or to show people what I could do. But to show the affection I feel for each of those who showed up to celebrate Jesus with me.

I shifted my perspective. My perspective wasn’t one of having everything perfect for them. My perspective was the joy I had for three days of preparation, showing the love I have for them.

I opened my eyes to see the blessing in the midst of the rubble. He changed my heart. He created that desire in me to let go of what I perceived to be the perfect Christmas. He instead created a desire in me to see that I already had the perfect Christmas.

I learned first hand what Jesus was saying to Martha. I also learned that it wasn’t about what I displayed for them. It was how I showed them love.

I will always treasure the memories I shared this Christmas with those I love. The joy I experienced in the preparation and the love I felt this Christmas will stay with me forever.

I pray your Christmas was filled with joy and love filled memories too.

With love and joy,

Laura