Welcome to
the 12 Pearls of
Christmas!
Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's
(Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and
more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt
stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.
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***
Inside Out Christmasby Debora M. Coty
My veterinarian friend, Dr. Katie, tells the story about the December when a woman
brought a very sick black lab into her clinic. The dog was only ten months old, so she was
really just a big puppy, but she’d been vomiting incessantly and her worried owner didn’t
know what was wrong.
“Why don’t you go on home?” Dr. Katie told the owner. “I’ll need to run tests for about
four hours. We’ll give you a call when we’re finished.”
Dr. Katie’s assistant took x-rays and hung them on the light panel for Dr. Katie to
examine. Hmm. Something looked a little peculiar. Dr. Katie called her assistant over.
“Is it just me, or does that look like a … a camel to you?” she asked incredulously.
“Matter of fact, it does,” replied the astute assistant. “And look, there’s an angel here, a
shepherd there, and down there in the colon, it’s Baby Jesus!”
At that moment the phone rang. It was the dog’s distraught owner. “I can’t believe this!
I just got home and glanced at the coffee table where I put my manger scene yesterday.
There’s nothing there but an empty stable!”
As I thought about this quite literal technique for internalizing the true meaning of
Christmas, it occurred to me that sometimes I have the opposite problem. With all the
bustling busyness, my inner joy in celebration of my savior’s birth never really makes it
to the outside.
Oh, I have plenty of glittery, festive evidences of the holiday in decorations, baking
galore, and gifts under my tree. But those things are for show. They’re merely the pretty
wrappings, not the gift itself.
Can people really see the core-deep joy that radiates within me when I think of the true
gift that Papa God sent the world in his son, Jesus? Is my immeasurable gratitude for
eternal life evident as I dash through this hectic season?
I’m afraid all too often, the answer is no.
I’m just too preoccupied to allow my outside to reflect my inside so that nonbelievers
recognize that I rejoice because of the hope that is within me. My joy is obscured by
the mounds of clutter. Gratefulness is sucked out of my soul by the vacuum called
urgency.
“But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with
joy” (Psalm 68:3, NLT).
This verse has become my prayer this Christmas season – that I would make the time to
give priority to rejoicing, being glad in God’s presence, and letting my inner joy show for
those who may be silently desperate to know the giver of true joy.
Yep, there’s a better way to internalize the gift of Christmas than the black lab
technique. We can lodge the Little Lord Jesus in our hearts rather than our colons.
***
Debora M. Coty is a humorist, inspirational speaker, and award-winning author of twelve books,including Too Blessed to be Stressed, and coming in March, More Beauty, Less Beast:
Transforming Your Inner Ogre. Debora would love to swap Christmas hugs with you
at www.DeboraCoty.com.
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