So…it’s pretty much “the holiday season” now. All things turkey and family and love to all mankind. The holidays are not always easy for me to wrap my hands (or heart) around. There’s been too much grief, too much lost, too much gone and never coming back…too many memories and not enough future.

And then you pile on the family!

The different personalities, needs, expectations, beliefs, traditions…the logistics! Remember that concept of “so simple, so profound?” Well, there’s nothing more complex in life than sorting out your family and your Christian walk. And sometimes–particularly for those of us that, {cough:cough} may or may not perhaps be defined as “strong-willed” {ahem}–that complicated dance can turn into a tangled heap of passive-aggressive confusion (and perhaps the occasional ball of sobbing humanity hiding under the covers!). Sometimes, as just another tired momma in new shoes, the message of the season can get lost somewhere along the winding path of packing suitcases, buying gifts, planning meals…compromising on expectations, managing conflicting schedules, and protecting overstimulated little hearts and minds…

Sometimes we take our eyes off of Jesus and fix them on our family.

And chaos will surely follow.

I’ve been told my whole life–and our culture in general buys into it–that “blood is thicker than water.” That come what may, family comes first. And in our divorce-riddled world, “family” means blood relatives because there’s no guarantee that any other “family” will be around for the long haul. The holidays are fraught with stress over how to manage visiting, sharing, loving both sides of the family (or even more than two!)–because we see it as different sides of the family, with different needs, different expectations, different traditions…that we have to somehow navigate successfully without hurting anyone’s feelings.

God doesn’t see it that way.

God doesn’t have a different definition of what is right and what is wrong, depending on what church you attend. You are either acting Christ-like, or you are not.

God doesn’t have different expectations for your behavior, depending on whose house you’re visiting. You are either behaving Christ-like, or you are not.

God doesn’t think one family’s traditions or gifts or food is better than another. You are either celebrating Christ, or you are not.

We are not to compare families to each other–we are to compare everything to HIM.

HIS Word, HIS Son, HIS righteousness. We are to be the family of Christ FIRST.

Before we are the Oliver, or the Hohners, or the Englands or the Tolls or the Pols…we are GOD’s and all things in our life should flow from that relationship.

We had a special praise and thanksgiving service at church the other day, and how freeing it was for me to leave any family drama there, at the cross, and walk away as God’s child.

I don’t have to try to be a good sister, or a good mother, or a good daughter-in-law…I have to be a good daughter TO THE KING, and everything else will fall in line.

What a silly burden to be trying to carry to begin with! It may or may not be related to{ahem}that strong-willed thing in the beginning of this post. Maybe I’m the only one who often feels like I’m chasing my own tail over how to do right by family and the Lord, but the holidays look completely different now that I’ve laid it down!

What has God put on your heart lately?