Christmas Faith

Easter and Christmas, the two most revered holidays of the Christian faith, have taken on a special meaning for me this year. Tony and I found out on Easter weekend that we were going to be first-time grandparents with an Easter basket filled with a sonogram, a grandma mug, grandpa socks, and a package of gummy bears, because that was the size of the baby growing inside Rachel. Tony affectionately started calling him Gummy Bear. This Christmas, Gummy Bear will be the most sought-after gift when we gather for Christmas. He will be passed around more than the mashed potatoes!

People always told me to just wait; grandparenting is different than parenting. I really didn’t understand what that meant because I love my kids, and as hard as parenting is, I love being their parent. Maybe because birthing a child is super hard work and by the time your child is placed in your arms, after two days of labor and all that hard work, you are too exhausted for giddiness. But a grandchild’s first hold is different. There is something amazing when they are placed in your arms. My first chance at holding Seijo came four days after his birth, because of unexpected complications and two different NICUs. I was overwhelmed…with relief that he was okay, awe that this tiny human was here, and love…I was overwhelmed with love. It really was how people described it. It was a holy and spiritual moment, and I cried like a baby. My swollen eyes in the picture are proof.

In the past two months since his birth, I remembered a phenomenon that Tony and I experienced with the birth of our own five children. Each birth coincided with significant spiritual growth in our personal lives. They didn’t come when things were perfect or at the “right” time. Spiritual growth is often won through different kinds of labor pains…loss, grief, change, heartache, spiritual renewal, wisdom, a new understanding…. Those are the ways we have grown, and we always had a child during all of it. Seijo has come into my life after a period of spiritual growth. The death of a close friend, knee replacements, a pandemic, mental health struggles in my family and a church split…some of the hardest times in a short period that I have ever personally experienced. There was a time, not long ago, that I dreaded coming to worship. Not now. The overwhelming presence of Christ meets me when I enter Wesley Chapel for worship. Gracious people greet me, and I feel like I belong to the body of Christ in a way not ever experienced in my past 13 years here. Worship is unpretentious and authentic for me. So many amazing and God-driven things are happening at Wesley Chapel. This past Sunday’s children’s program is testimony to this. This spiritual awakening has coincided with having the most beautiful grandson placed in my arms. My heart is full.

As this time of advent comes to a close, may we all remember it was a baby placed into the arms of humanity that gives us the reason to celebrate this Christmas. My prayer for you is that you experience the peace, love, joy, and hope that only Christ can give. Merry Christmas and Christ’s love to all.