While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. Luke 2:6-7

Christmas is all about family, isn’t it? To paraphrase the song , “No matter how far away we roam, there’s no place like home.. especially for the holidays. “ And what is home if not a family gathered together in one place, often from far away.

Our family is scattered from Boston and New York to Chicago, Salt Lake and   central Idaho. It is almost impossible for everyone to be together and so Dan and I visit where and when we can. This week we drove more than five hours in winter weather to Coeur D’Alene to spend Christmas with my son and his family. The children are still young and very excited for Christmas. There was a virtual mountain of presents under the tree which seemed to grow every night. Fresh snow fell for two days transforming the neighborhood into a sparkling  wonderland. The kids threw snowballs and made a tall snowman remarkably dressed as their Grandfather Poppi. Today’s Christmas morning was happy and chaotic as all the carefully wrapped presents were shredded open and created an avalanche of presents. It was such fun to watch. Most of the day, the grown ups cooked, cleaned up and napped while the children sorted and played with their toys. All in all, it’s been a memory making Christmas.

It’s not always like that in families. Sometimes we have totally unrealistic pictures of what our families are supposed to be like. We think that Christmas will bring love or joy or peace, just like in “A Christmas Story” and old movies from the fifties.  But then someone gets into a snit or a quarrel begins. An unhealed relationship blows up between family members. Someone is forgotten or insulted. The children bicker and aren’t appreciative. We feel guilty about spending too much or not enough. Expectations don’t meet the reality of families which act .. well, like themselves.

Ours is certainly not a perfect family, but we are doing a lot better than we used to. I thank God for His grace and wisdom to give me a family which has held on despite a lot of struggles. God teaches  me to accept and love them exactly as they are, no better or worse. I can choose to see them as beautiful instead of weird. After all He loves me unabashedly,  warts and all – and sees me the same way.

There is another family to which I now belong, into which I have been adopted. It is not the family of my parents Anton and Elisabeth, nor is it the family that Dan and I head. It is the family into which I have been adopted as a believer in Christ Jesus. When Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary, a new lineage was also birthed in that stable. It would be the spiritual lineage by which those who believe on the name of Jesus, who choose Him as their Lord and Savior, would become children of God. We can call God our Abba Father for we become His sons and daughters. He sends Jesus’ Spirit into our hearts to remind us that we are now among God’s family members.

“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”—Galatians 4:6.

At times our human families will fail us  just as we fail them. But God as our Father will never fail us. Even though we often miss the mark, there is no condemnation in the Father’s eyes when He sees us because of Christ in us. Our still unsaved families too can become adopted children of the Most High God through Jesus.

The Word tells us to ask anything of the Father according to His will and He will grant it. If we being evil  have given so many gifts to our children  this Christmas, will not Our loving Father also give to us what we ask? Therefore,  I have one late Christmas wish today. May God our loving Father draw my family and yours into His embracing Arms tonight. May His Spirit speak the Word made flesh into families needing   His salvation. And may the peace  of God  proclaimed by the angels envelope  all families who came  together to celebrate Jesus’  birth to His glory and honor.