“It’s empty!!” 😩 said my three year old, as he dramatically placed a box in my lap that he had pulled from under a Christmas tree at our Friday co-op.
It was the fourth or fifth box he had opened, which were really under the tree as props. Decoration.
I had warned him of that when he first asked if he could open them, actually, but he had to see for himself. He was SURE that there was going to be a wonderful gift inside, and nothing besides examining the insides personally could convince him otherwise!
At first I found myself giving him the “told ya so” speech, but when I saw that his childlike anticipation had been replaced by a new look of hopelessness, frustration, and defeat, my annoyance that he wouldn’t listen to me was also replaced– with empathy.
Actually, I FELT it.
And I can also see it echoed in the hearts and posts of so many in my newsfeed.
Some of the things and experiences that, especially this time of year, seem so sparkly and shiny and beautiful and promising — that we are just certain if we could open them for ourselves, would bring us great joy— fail to deliver the truly full heart we are deep down looking for.
AND YET…
Perhaps we are missing it.
Perhaps there is something there that can’t be seen.
An opportunity waiting to present itself, if we could just take on a new mindset.
Not an empty box, but a
SPACE to create!
A challenge to see something BEYOND the seen!
To call it forth, into being!
——
I almost missed it, to be real with you.
In fact, because this moment happened towards the end of the day and past the mark when my mind is ready to disengage and be back at home, my patience was lacking more than I love to admit.
I probably responded to him no less than a dozen times, and with an exasperated voice, “I know, it’s empty. I’m sorry. I wish I could help you but I can’t.”
Until I realized, I could.
So the thirteenth-ish time, I changed my reaction.
Or rather, God changed my perspective for me.
I don’t know how I heard His voice amidst the chaos and clutter of my own mind, with its regular PLUS holiday to-do lists shuffling and its battery low…but I did.
And He said something along the lines of:
The box is not empty.
It’s just waiting for you to call out the fullness.
Use your imagination, why don’t you?
See what’s there that can’t be seen,
until YOU bring it out.
So I looked in that box, and I don’t know what came over me-
a childlike playfulness I don’t channel often enough-
and I said to him, “Oh, C! You missed it! This box isn’t empty, there’s a SMILE in it!!! 😃”
And I smiled a giant smile and thanked him for it, and as he peered inside to see for himself, the gift multiplied and suddenly he was donning a brand-new smile too!
And then the next gift came out: a LAUGH!
After that, he and the others began searching for trinkets to put IN the box, and it became quite the playtime.
They filled it with tractors and cars and closed and opened the boxes over and over, never seeming to get tired of seeing the things they placed in them inside and “regifting” them to others who would peek inside the box!
Certainly a change from the demeanor he had when looking for pre-filled boxes, only to find them “empty.”
The joy was in the filling!
The imagining!
The creating, delighting, sharing.
——
I know this time of year, it’s easy to want life to be like a Hallmark movie.
It’s easy to want to go back to those childhood days of opening boxes to find someone else had filled them for us.
It’s easy to want to be the recipient of hospitality, instead of the one behind the scenes putting in the time, sweat, and sometimes tears of creating the atmosphere that seems to others, to be effortless.
But if we look too long at the package-
the outside,
the expectations of what the holidays will hold
or too much on the apparent-
what a.p.p.e.a.r.s to be inside
{or particularly, the lack thereof}
we will feel frustrated, exasperated, defeated, and disillusioned.
We will grab ahold of those feelings of “emptiness”…
(Like the “what about me” post I keep seeing about moms having empty stockings — which trust me, I’m not judging because I’ve been there and felt that way before— I just want to show you something MORE here—)
and our souls will feel cheated and depleted.
But what if we took on a fresh set of eyes?
What if we saw this new “open box” as a DEEP PRIVILEGE,
an opportunity-
to be the host,
the magic-bringer,
the light-displayer,
the story-of-Jesus’s-love-teller…
not as if we had been shoved out of the cozy nest of childhood and receiving,
which makes us long for those old, nostalgic days-
But instead, for the joy that it is!
Minus any pressure placed upon ourselves for others’ happiness to rest solely in our hands.
I’m not talking about placing the weight of giving our children or anyone else a “perfect Christmas” square on our shoulders.
I’m simply saying:
What if we stopped buying the lie that our boxes are empty?
And we stopped chasing all the things that we believe will fill them?
And we ask Him to help us call out the good stuff-
the best stuff-
HIS peace and joy and contentment-
that are there but sometimes we need help to see them, and to RECEIVE them.
You see, a love like that-
when received-
or RE-received-
you just can’t help but pass it on! ❤️
And THAT is what the best holidays-
or any days-
are made of.
HIS unseen but realer-than-real love.
It’s the antidote, in fact, for all emptiness.
It’s what I wish for everyone, this Christmas.
Your stockings aren’t empty, momma.
It’s just that God has given you blessings that don’t fit inside stockings anymore!
From Full 