Christmas will be minus children & children in law (8 in all), grandchildren (10). The twenty of us will be reduced to just my husband and I. And why is this happening this way? One word, COVID!

My devotional reading today focused on ‘contentment.’ Therefore, I asked myself, “In light of the drastic changes in my traditional Christmas celebration, could I claim contentment?’

Had I embraced the truth of Philippians 4:11-12?

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Phillippians 4:11-12

Honestly, I’m not too happy about the prospect of missing out on the delight of watching the good natured antics of my beloved offspring which characterizes our celebration. No reaching out to give or claim a hug is hard to accept. Listening to the squeals of delight as gifts are opened will be limited to an e-experiance via my computer. We will be minus all the delights that have characterized past Christmases around this old house!

So, how does one find contentment in this?

In our search for contentment during the tumultuous events at present, we must come to terms with some basic tactics of our enemy, Satan. His most successful trick is to manipulate our focus. He will cause us to focus on all that we have lost. Our minds will become so fixed on such that there will be only enough room for negative thinking. Those fiery darts will permeate our thought, influence our attitudes, and produce actions contrary to God’s will. 

Therefore, if we will but seek God’s way to find contentment, we will turn to Scripture, like the one above.  Matthew 14:22-36    will alert us to Peter’s fiasco when he became distracted by the storm. Romans 8:28 will present the gifts of peace and encouragement God stands ready to present to us. If every time a fiery dart thought attempts to take root, we can call upon the weapon of our faith to extinguish it. Satan’s manipulation and deceit fizzles. We are free to find the contentment God offers.

So instead of focusing on not being able to physically connect with our children and grandchildren, we find we still have much to be grateful for. Thanks to the provision of connecting online, we will still be able to visit with each other. We will still be able to sit back and listen with great joy to the loving and playful antics of our offspring as they enjoy being together during Christmas.

However, the sweetest blessing of all is that all 20 of us will be able to focus more on the Christ child than ever before. We will all remain cozy in our homes, focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. I welcome this for my husband and I, and I welcome this for our children and grandchildren.

In addition I would love to share a Christmas story I wrote for my family. Merry Christmas and remember Jesus is the Reason for Christmas.