The Sixth Day of Christmas by Melissa Gower
Steve asked three questions to think about when writing this Christmas reflection: How has Christ be present for me? How has Jesus showed up for me in this season I am in? How has joy shown up in my world because of Christ?
As I sit here just days before Christmas 2024 listening to Handel’s Messiah and looking at my lit tree, contemplating these three questions, I am overwhelmed by the many ways I could answer them.
Let me start by giving a little background to my answers. Two years ago (2022) we celebrated what would be my immediate family’s last Christmas as the complete unit I had come to take for granted. Early in January 2023, my dad passed away after a very long and difficult battle with congenital heart failure. Dad was the steadfast rock of my world, he was my compass, my north star, and had been the fertile ground in which my faith had taken root. Never one to shout his faith; he had simply lived it with every breath he took. Just as we were starting to feel like we were on solid ground, my brother-in-law Erwin passed from a heart attack in May of 2023 and less than a year later in February of this year my other brother-in-law Ron also passed away from a heart attack. During this time, my family also lost my aunt, two cousins, my one sister had a close friend take their own life, and my other sister lost her father and brothers- in-law.
You may be asking what this has to do with this reflection I am writing for this series, but it is the foundation of where I find myself currently and is the background to the answers of those three questions.
Christ has been with me every step I have taken these last two years. God has drawn me closer to him with every loss that I have dealt with; I feel closer to Christ now than I have in my entire life. He has given me a personal peace and assurance that I have never experienced before. Some people may have found themselves questioning God and asking ‘Oh God why? why are you doing this? How much more do you expect me to bear?’. I honestly do not know how to explain it. Yet, as I reflect during this Christmas season, I know that is only with Christ and through Christ that I can say I am at peace. It is an all-encompassing peace that has and is affecting all aspects of my life. I find that I rarely ask the question ‘why?’ anymore. God has given me the answers before I can ask, and the peace to know that if he has not, then it not the time for me to know and he will provide the answer when I need to know.
Jesus (as he usually does) has shown up in the most unusable and unexpected ways in my life. I have a Spotify playlist of various Christian songs that I listen to in my car. One of the tracks is the hymn It is Well with My Soul. This song will always start to play whenever I find myself starting to have doubts or anxiety or when I feel overwhelming sadness. As soon as I hear the first chords of this hymn, I feel God’s breath and hear him in the words sung over me. As the first verse goes When peace like a river attended my way: When sorrows like see billows roll: Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me say: It is well, it is well, with my soul.
I also see Jesus present in my children’s life. As many of you know both of my boys have come to accept Christ as their saviour in the last three years. In a world where so many are turning their backs on God and the church, and with the personal blows they have went through, I am truly awed at God’s ways to draw them both close.
Joy in this season in everywhere in my life. It is in the little things, the big things, the laughter and yes, even the tears. My dad and my brothers-in law all loved Christmas. They were the ones who started to celebrate on November 1st . The sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of this season bring back such great memories for myself and my family. God has showered me with joy this year in more ways than I can ever acknowledge. The joy of putting up our tree and remembering my dad putting up our tree after we went to the bush and cutting one down, cooking and baking family recipes (especially the ones you don’t have to look up).
Joy came just the other night when Greyson called me from work and asked for me to pray with him as it had been a terrible shift. It brings utter joy to have your 21 year old child call with a request like that.
Joy has come in the form of my children wanting to keep our family traditions, requesting the same Christmas Eve meal (quiche and French onion soup) as we have had for their entire lives.
Joy in knowing that I am not ever alone. Joy is preparing for a birthday celebration when the most precious gift ever was given and not received. I truly miss those three men in my life, but one of my children told me it was okay because they (my dad, Erwin and Ron) are also celebrating this birthday in person and on the other side of the star.
May we all look back on 2024 and embrace all that God has given. May we look forward to 2025 knowing that God has promised to walk with us through whatever may come.
Merry Christmas!
You can find a downloadable PDF of this reflection here.
Each day, a new reflection will drop here. We hope you enjoy them and reflect upon, experiencing the presence of Christ in this season.