I remember loving Christmas as a little girl, you’d have to be crazy to not love the holiday as a child right?? Romero tradition is my entire family; uncle, aunts, and cousins, and believe me I am in no shortage of family, would all flock to my Aunt Claudia and Uncle Seaweed’s (Mark’s) house Christmas Eve. We would have to wait until midnight to open presents, the hours passing by with food, games, and laughter. In the mornings, we would wake up and watch a movie while my uncle would make us Mickey Mouse pancakes and in the evenings we would go to the theaters to watch whatever film came out Christmas Day.
I honestly don’t know when I became a Scrooge for this holiday. Within the last five years or so, after the turkey had been inhaled on Thanksgiving ,I watched people rush out to charge the Black Friday shoppers, and it would begin. My mood would change, I couldn’t stand the inflatables that consumed lawns, lines for target got stupid long, and worse of all everywhere I went there was Michael Bubble, Mariah, T-Swift, Reba, and basically every artist singing the same song. I couldn’t stand how fast the month of December turned to consumerism, and how Jesus, from my perspective went out the window.
The first time I had ever heard of Advent was last year while I watched a family light the candle for that particular service. I didn’t think about it, I didn’t give any thought to why they did it or what advent really meant, but it’s the anticipation of something better. One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 25:9-10, ” …Behold, this is our God, we have waited for him that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” There is hope in these verses, and Advent is the waiting for the hope that was foretold to arrive.
The Lumes have been on Phu Quoc for about two weeks, and even though it doesn’t get crazy cold in California in December, seeing Christmas decorations and hearing the overplayed songs in summer -technically- throws me off. My leader wanted us as a team to go through a advent devotional, and something that I’ve really taken from it is that when this season is over, even after all the lights and manger sets are put away, Jesus remains. Everything that signals for Christmas will be boxed up and put in basements, attics, and storage units, but the anticipation for what was coming is over because at the end of advent Jesus is here. It’s always been about him, and always will be.
Merry Christmas from The Lumes
