Christmas Card Chronicles: Sanctification

 It's December 21. We just sent out a batch of Walgreens-printed Christmas cards, this year featuring desperate red-eye concealer dots on two shiny faces nestled in front of a dimly-lit tree. We took it at my parents' house following a Thanksgiving Feast because we (mostly Joe) couldn't fathom the thought of paying someone and we (mostly me) never conveniently had people nearby to take a picture while looking presentable. So, we settled for green flannels masking some Thanksgiving pudge and an iPhone-camera picture printed on a glossy pharmacy card. Merry Christmas. 

I probably wouldn't even bother with cards this year except I acquired a journal which summons you to place all your Christmas cards through the years in a burlap-colored slot with room for handwritten updates from the year. Last year's nearly filled a whole page: Graduated college/grad school, got jobs at Westfield, got married, moved to Westfield, changed churches, became members at Castleview, helped plant The Fields, departed from Castleview, traveled the country, Joe was baptized, we attended nearly a dozen weddings, settled in a creaky but cozy second-story apartment...the list goes on. 

But this year? Uhhh......

I guess maybe the word is stayed. We stayed married (credits to God's grace and Joe's supernatural tolerance for his spouses' semi-psychotic hangry-ness). We stayed at the high school (thanks to God again and also principals who are willing to overlook one too many hand turkeys on the day before Thanksgiving break). We stayed in our apartment. With our church. In Westfield. Same friends, same neighbors. Stayed.

I've been reflecting on the fact that so little changed; and yet I'm struck by how our God who stays can use even mundane moments to bring about sanctification and point us to His goodness. Many of our good friends became pregnant. While that won't change anything in the four walls of our home much, it will change those walks with those friends with a stroller now to push. It will change the way we seek to serve and support those friends, as that's changing even now. 

I got a haircut and started wearing more makeup. Partially because I wanted to look older, and partially because change is good for my soul -- new rhythms, new attitude. Is it crazy that I feel like a better teacher in makeup? More dynamic. Ready to snap when needed. Something about pointing out an essential clause with a spicy red manicure seemed more impactful than my nubby nude nails of yesteryear. And yet God still uses humbling whispers from high school students ("nice side part!") to remind me that our beauty does not consist of outward appearance but the imperishable quality of a gentle, quiet spirit. 

We made the very adult decision to purchase a tree skirt. It's red and black, buffalo plaid which adds a Christmassy flare to our Home Depot tree. We're learning the balance of not clinging so tightly to money and yet also only purchasing what is needful. Though I'd argue that this skirt is not necessary, a good change for two penny pinchers who fell in love has been to not hold so firmly to money, as though our security is found in it. God used this to teach us that if we build our foundation on our finances, we'll crumble. 

And I started reading through the whole Old Testament. Actually reading it. Not skimming and skipping the genealogies and deeming the temple-building details unworthy of my time. I developed a fondness for those details which point to our glorious God who is Lord over all things - big and small. I fell deeper in love with my Savior who healed lepers when Levitical laws would mandate they be cast out. I even developed an appreciation for - you guessed it - genealogies, as I learned that the Gospel is personal and historical and worthy of recording every person the Lord used to see it through. 

And much less importantly, I found a new buffalo chicken recipe. It's good, really good. We eat it twice a week. 

None of these things really look all that glamorous on a Christmas Card scrapbook, especially when juxtaposed with the massive life changes of 2021. But there was a sweetness in the sameness, a slow and steady sanctification, and a reminder that God is with us in the big transformations AND with us in the small mundane rhythms of buffalo plaid and buffalo chicken. I'm thankful.