“Why does everyone have to be so happy at Christmas?”

“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.]