I Am Scared of Christmas
For the last year I have been dreading the end of fall because I knew that it would signal the start of the Christmas season.
Christmas is always a force to be reckoned with. On a normal year, it approaches with the subtlety and restraint of a runaway locomotive. We began planning for Christmas at Fresh Life this summer and even then, when it still seemed far away, it was difficult to think about facing the world wrapped in lights, silver bells and holly. Last week, I walked into a Starbucks in New Mexico and saw eggnog latte's were on the menu and they had a big display of Advent calendars near the counter.
Ready or not, here it comes.
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The truth is, every holiday has been difficult this year. Mother's day was really hard. My birthday was too. As was Alivia's birthday, the Fourth of July, Father's Day, and Easter. These days are when the pain of Lenya's absence is exaggerated. We miss her every day, but on days when you would always be together or have special traditions the ache just gets a little bit louder. The hardest, by far, this year was Lenya's birthday. Not being able to be with her on a day that is all about her was unspeakably difficult. We know that Christmas will be very hard. She went to Heaven on December 20th, and we celebrated her life and had her funeral on December 26th.
Back to the runaway train. As I was falling asleep on Halloween I was thinking about how Thanksgiving is all that separates us from Christmas now. Once December begins, everything in our society is built into making the ramp-up for Christmas as loud and as visible as possible. Twelve days of Christmas. Little numbered doors hiding chocolate. These days and numbers all bring painful memories and traumatizing associations with them. Lenya's favorite Christmas carol was "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town" by Justin Bieber, but truth be told I wouldn't really mind it if old St. Nick got lost instead.
I realize that I sound like Ebenezer Scrooge, and I am ok with that. Naming your fear is a part of getting through it and I am scared of Christmas.
Fortunately, I know that God isn't scared of what scares me. Jesus is going to be with us, just as He was last year and just as Lenya is with Him now. I don't have to pretend like I am not frightened either. I trust Him. He will walk with us through the flashbacks and the associations and the sleepless nights and the tears and the lack of tears. We will celebrate the birth of the One who came to destroy death and bring light and immortality to light through the Gospel. We will sing until our voice won't let us. We will preach and celebrate seeing people come to know Jesus just like we did days after Lenya died in my arms. We will party if we can muster the courage, cry when we miss her and collapse if we have to. Even though He slays us we will bless His name.
We always have a choice and I choose to rejoice.
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Levi Lusko is the pastor of Fresh Life Church, a multi-site church in Montana. His teaching style is real, relevant, and raw. In addition to communicating Gods truth, he loves to snowboard, surf, cycle, read and drink coffee. His 5-year-old daughter, Lenya Avery Lusko, went home to be with the Lord in Heaven after a severe asthma attack on Dec. 20, 2012. Website: LeviLusko.com Twitter: @levilusko
