This year, my body didn’t want Christmas. In fact, it rejected everything, either up or down for three days except IVs and ice chips. No eggnog. No Tamales (a true Texas tradition.) No candy or plum 
pudding.No warm smiles during the children’s pageant as kids tugged on over-sized bathrobes and stumbled over their lines. No Christ’s Mass by candlelight singing Silent Night. Family and friends avoided me – as well they should have.
I faded in and out of restless sleep. The carpet between my bed and the bathroom is now well matted with footprints.
But, God still reigns. Strip away the glistening ornament-laden tree, the candy canes, the traditions and even the church services, and somehow Christmas was still there. I saw Christmas in the gentle hands of the nurse in the ER clinic as she patiently needled my arm to receive fluids, even though my veins had collapsed from dehydration. I saw Christmas in the smile of a kind doctor who treated me as his only patient when he had a packed waiting room, many with the same stomach flu as I. I saw Christmas in my son who was at my beck and call while juggling work, and in his boss who told him to be with me on Christmas Eve in the ER instead of waiting on customers during the busiest time of the year in their store. I saw Christmas in the love oozing from the concerned texts and emails, and the understanding that I was not up to even talking on the phone, thank you.
No, this is not how I planned to spend Christmas. But, in a way it was a very meaningful one for me. Despite the ravaging virus inside my body, Christ was there as well. Emmanuel. God with us.
I hope this Christmas you found God in your day, too…no matter how it turned out. May each day be an Emmanuel day.
Where Did You Find God Today? 