The last two months of the year fill me with joyful expectations. I love the sights, the sounds, and the celebrations with friends and family. However, it is easy for me to get caught up in the preparations and overlook the true gift, Emmanuel, God with us. I can become so busy doing that I forget being and resting in the presence of Christ Himself.  

My heart's desire is to be grateful and experience the gift of Jesus every day, not on Christmas. I want to experience the daily gift of His presence and to have eyes to see His daily blessings in the ordinary and unexpected.  

One busy holiday, my husband and I decided to take a back road to avoid traffic. As a result, we experienced an unexpected surprise—a God-gift. The winding country road was empty. The only life for miles were herds of cattle grazing, wandering deer, and soaring birds. We were relaxed and peaceful. As we came around a corner, suddenly there was a vast herd of sheep. More surprising was the rancher overlooking the sheep sitting on his farm equipment playing the saxophone! A delightful God-gift out in the middle of nowhere. We would have missed it had we taken the main road.

Sometimes we are privileged to receive a gift from God as we witness a holy moment. One evening while serving at our local homeless shelter, a young man came through the line asking for two plates of food. He needed one for an older man who was having trouble walking and one for himself. If he were allowed only one serving, he said he would give it to the older man then return to the end of the line for himself. Of course, I gave him two plates. 

I watched as the two of them sat alone at a table. The young man was leaning in, listening, and engaged with the older man. Later in the evening, he asked for something softer for the man to eat because he had trouble chewing the food. The tenderness and compassion of this young man was a holy moment. I was watching something extraordinary. It was Jesus in action.    

This young man was giving the equivalent of a cup of cold water to the least of these. It might have seemed like those of us serving were the givers, but it was the young man who gave the most that night—his time, love, mercy, and compassion.

Scripture is full of ordinary people who God used to do the extraordinary. David was a shepherd, Mary was a young Jewish girl, Peter was a fisherman, and Mathew was a tax collector. God chose them all to be extraordinary for the Lord.

Can you imagine what it was like for Mary? She may have been just a young girl to those around her, but God had other plans. Everything changed when the angels announced she would bear a son—the Son of God! From that moment, her ordinary life became extraordinary. 

In the song, “Mary Did You Know?” there is a verse that asks, "Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you've delivered will soon deliver you?” It takes my breath away when I choose to be still and meditate on this truth. Jesus, our Savior, chose to reveal Himself, as a baby, to a young girl. He decided then, as He often does now, to reveal Himself in the ordinary.  

Mary knew her Son was special, but until His resurrection she didn’t see the fulfillment of the promise. So it is with us. We don't always see or understand what God is doing in our lives. In the meantime, we trust in the promise of things unseen.

My prayer is that I will see the gifts of God all around me, in the simple and the profound. I want to see God in the baby in the manger and in the Hallelujah, the Messiah—God with us, God for us, and God in us. 

READ:

• "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24, ESV).

REFLECT:

• Where have you seen glimpses of God in your everyday life recently?
• How can you practice gratitude in the middle of life’s mundane or chaotic moments?
• What changes when you view ordinary experiences as opportunities to encounter God?

PRAY:

• Lord, open my eyes to Your presence in my everyday life. Help me see Your hand in the ordinary and find joy in knowing You are always with me. May I live with gratitude and expectancy, trusting that You are at work even in the smallest details. In Jesus’ name, Amen.