Christmas Was Never About Having It All Together

Can we be real for a minute? 
Christmas has gotten so shiny that half of us feel guilty just looking at it. 

You scroll through social feeds full of matching pajamas and perfect trees and families who seem to have mastered the art of seasonal serenity, and suddenly your own living room starts looking like a crime scene made of wrapping paper and half-burnt cookies.

But the first Christmas story never looked like a greeting card. 
It looked like a young couple doing their best with what little they had. 
It looked like a road trip nobody wanted to take. 
It looked like a stable that had not been cleaned up for visitors, much less a moment that would be remembered for centuries. It looked like scared people holding a newborn and hoping they could figure it out.

That is the story we inherited. Not the polished one. The honest one.

And just so we are clear, nobody writing the nativity stories was taking notes in the delivery room. Matthew and Luke tell it differently because each one was painting with theological colors, not reporting facts. Which is fine, because truth is bigger than facts anyway. The story is trying to show us what Love looks like when it puts on skin and walks into the hard parts of life.”

Myth to Unlearn

Somewhere along the way, we traded the human story for a staged one. We turned real people into porcelain figurines and turned a messy birth into a Pinterest project. We tried to make the whole thing glow, as if the animals smelled like potpourri and Mary had a professional makeup team waiting just offstage.

We know better. 
Life does not work that way. 
Birth does not work that way. 
Love does not wait for clean corners or coordinated outfits. 
It arrives in the middle of what is real, even when what is real is overwhelming or raw or not what we hoped for.

Christmas did not come because the world got everything right. 
It came because the world was struggling.

The Turn Toward Truth

If there is any comfort in the story, it is this: 
Love does not show up because we are ready. 
Love shows up because we need it. 
Love steps into the ordinary and says, this will do. 
This is enough. 
You are enough.

That feeding trough was not a symbol crafted for dramatic effect. It was simply what they had. And somehow that simple, imperfect space became a reminder that Love can take root in places we never thought could hold anything sacred.

Where the Story Lands Today

And honestly, not much has changed. 

We still live in a world that keeps telling people there is no room for them. 
No room for families stretched thin. 
No room for people seeking safety. 
No room for queer and trans youth who are exhausted from fighting for the right to be themselves. 
No room for folks who are historically excluded and still trying to carve out space where they can breathe.

But here is the part of the story that keeps repeating. Love keeps showing up anyway. In shelters. In cluttered kitchens. In hospital waiting rooms. In late night car rides where someone says, I am here with you. You are not alone. The stable was not a one time miracle. It was a pattern of how Love operates.

Closing Blessing with Bite

So if your Christmas looks nothing like the polished version, take a deep breath and relax your shoulders a little. 

You are not off script. 
You are standing right in the middle of where this whole thing began.

Love has always found its footing in messy places. 
Love has always chosen real life over perfect life. 
Love has always slipped into the world through side doors that nobody bothered to decorate.

Christmas was never about perfection.
It was about Love showing up anyway.
And if that is what your life looks like this year, 
you are closer to the story than you think.