“Why does everyone
have to be so happy at Christmas? It is
annoying!”
Written
by Mechele
A friend asked me, “Why does everyone have to be so happy at
Christmas? It is annoying!” This time of year is so hard for so many of
us. We remember and dearly miss those
whom we’d love to see and embrace just one more time. We think about relationships broken by
addiction. Our hearts go out to those of us that struggle with mental
health. We long for restoration and
wholeness! With this person we spoke
about Advent and how these feelings of sorrow and brokenness are how we begin
the Christmas Season.
I came across a quote from,”Seeking God’s Face” by Philip
Reinders; “Advent is a season for restless hearts and people weary of a broken
world who want, with all our being, to know there’s more than this. Advent cultivates in us a discerning eye,
helping us to spot the sin that clutters our lives and notice all the ways we
need to be saved. By helping us to hope
intensely for restoration, to feel our own need to be saved, Advent prepares us
for genuine Christmas joy and faith in the One who saves us from our sin,
Jesus. “ We spent some time reflecting
on how this applies to us at The Mess.
We celebrated Christmas at The Mess last Thursday! Celebrate, we did!! It was a one of those days when people
lingered and no one wanted to leave. We had a wonderful day of creating art and
having fun together. Someone once
wrote that, “to create is the practice of expressing a great idea.” Krista came in with a great idea! She and her husband purchased a ginger bread
tree and a barn to construct as a group.
Fun and messy! Kingston is a
great city for serving food! A number of people have shared how they were
blessed by so many Turkey Dinners around town.
I think the quote was, “Turkey, turkey, turkey…” It was suggested that we should do something
different. Christmas Dinner was pizza
from Gino’s and salad.
We had a great time unwrapping gifts from under the tree
during a rowdy game of gift swap. The
hot swap items this year were a large canvas including some paint and another
was a pack of six socks. The person who
ended up with the socks, we’ll call John.
Our Christmas Party was John’s first time at The Mess. John shared how his life is
difficult right
now. He is living on the streets and he says
he is beaten up a lot. In fact, this was
visible; he bore the bruises on his face and had a swollen eye from his last
encounter. John shared this story with
me… “I was walking down the street this
morning and was talking to God in my heart.
You’re a Christian right? Of course you are, I can tell by what is going
on in here. “John took a moment to look around the room and then back at his
feet. “I really am not in a good place
right now. I’ve nowhere to live. I’m
hangin’ out with the wrong people. I’m doing wrong things.” John paused for a
moment and then continued on, “This might sound strange to you but I asked God,
‘If you are real please show yourself to me today!’ When I saw your green sign on the sidewalk
and felt like I should come in. You
know I wasn’t going to have Christmas this year, but I came in here today. I’m so glad Sandi talked me into staying for
unwrapping gifts. I really need
socks! Thank you to everyone for making
me feel welcomed and for the fun. Thank all of you and thank God for giving me
Christmas! This IS Christmas for me.” I
was taken aback by John’s words. I shared with him, “This is Christmas for me
too!”
Sally has been coming to The Mess for the last couple of
months off and on. Sally brought her
sister, Betty to our Christmas Party.
Betty had introduced Sally to a different drop in center in the city a
while back so, Sally was excited to introduce Betty to The Mess. This would be the first Christmas in thirty
years that the pair would celebrate together.
I took a beautiful photo of Sally and Betty in front of the Christmas
tree. Betty shared with Sandi and the
end of the party, “Now I know why Sally loves coming here. It is just a group of friends hanging out and
having fun! I would really like to come
again.” Sandi assured her that she
should.
Thank you to the small group at Salvation Army Church who put together the loving back packs for The Mess to share! They are so appreciated!
Blessings to you
and your loved ones in the year to come!
[When we share our stories, people’s names are changed
unless we have permission to use their real identity.]
