Transforming The Ordinary

“And she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”    Luke 2:7

This past week, I drove through the Fantasy of Lights in my hometown.  The ordinary park was transformed into a magical display of lights that created a fantasy world of wonder.  The spirit of Christmas was expressed by bringing light into the darkness and in the stories created by the sponsors of each display.  The ordinary, everyday places in the park took on a different meaning and purpose.  The red shelter house where my family usually gathers for family dinners was transformed into a gingerbread house.  The round shelter house became a carrousel ride with lights.  The outdoor theatre became the perfect barn for the nativity story.  The swimming pool was filled with lights instead of water.

Ordinary – no special or distinctive features, normal, common, regular, routine.  Life is mainly ordinary.  We develop a routine, and it feels comfortable and normal.  We like the predictable and that things are what they appear to be without any major surprises.  Life never stays this predictable as we know.  We have experienced the unimaginable in our lives.  Nothing feels normal in loss and grief.  Our ordinary and comfortable life is gone, and we feel all mixed up and lost.

Christmas may seem ordinary or least predictable with its many traditions.  This year I have been pondering the Christmas story through this ordinary lens.  It was normal for a baby to be born.  Birth happens in a barn all the time – usually the birth of animals.  I grew up on a farm and regularly witnessed the birth of lambs, calves, puppies, and kittens.  It was common and expected.  Shepherds coming to a barn was not out of the ordinary.  Seeing bright stars in the sky was natural. 

When we look at these normal parts of the Christmas story, we can relate in some way.  Jesus was born naturally like you and me.  Jesus came in an ordinary, humble way so all of us could connect to him.  Jesus was homeless for a period of time, so he did not have more physical possessions than any of us.  Some of the lowest of society, the shepherds, came to see him.  Jesus was born simply and humbly so that none of us would feel a disconnection with him or feel that he could not understand our life situation.

Then God broke through this ordinary.  God made everything different and transformed the ordinary into extraordinary.  Birth was natural but not from a virgin.  The birth of God himself was unfathomable.  The stable became a place of worship instead of just a place for animals.  God came near.  God humbled himself to become like us so that we could become like Him.  God transformed the ordinary.

God continues to make the ordinary different.  Your ordinary life changed because of loss, but God can take this different life and transform it.  God comes to be with us in this different life.  Jesus was born Emmanuel which means God with us.  Just like the stable was transformed into a place of worship, God can transform our broken hearts into a place of worship.  Mary and Joseph did not expect to have a baby yet nor have their baby to be born in a stable.  You did not expect your ordinary and normal life to change.  So when the unexpected happens, God shows up every time.  God does not make everything normal like it was but different and even extraordinary.

Allow God to come into your ordinary life and transform you.  Allow God to come into your different life and walk beside you.  Allow God to come this Christmas into your heart and give to you the gift of His Son who brings peace and comfort.

This Christmas week may be totally different for you this year.  You may feel like not doing the regular routine of the season.  Give yourself permission to change.  God promises to be with you and to take your different life and walk with you through it.  Christmas is God coming to us wherever we are, however we feel, and transforming our lives.  God is with you.