The Holiday Letter I Never Sent

Epiphany Joy to you and your family!

The holiday season is drawing to a close, and BestestHusband is taking down the Christmas tree as we speak. We hope that yours, like ours, has been full of family, friends, quivering hopeful anticipation (“Look, there’s another gift under the tree!”), and celebration. We’ve all eaten too many goodies, enjoyed family traditions, and spent much-needed time with people that we care about.

The 12^th day of Christmas, while now associated with “12 drummers drumming” actually kicks off the traditional celebration of Epiphany, when we celebrate the Magi, or Wise Men, visiting the Christ child. Many think there were 3 wise men, although the Bible never gives them a number. But we do know that they came from very far away, searching for their new king.

The story of the Magi in the book of Matthew is one that describes a “leap of faith”. They saw a star that was supposed to foretell the birth of a great king. They followed that star until they found him. What a leap of faith! They had no confirmation that the king was really there. There was nobody on Facebook to “like” the prophecy of the star. How were they sure that this was THE star at THE right time? The travel itinerary was a bit uncertain. “Follow a star.” They had no confirmed flights, no travel insurance in case of sandstorm. The travel was dangerous. No state troopers were around to keep bandits off the road. There was no AAA to call in case a camel broke a leg. There were tricky politics involved. Herod wanted to use them as spies in order to assassinate the newborn king. Yet they followed that star until they found him, and even though they found him in humble circumstances, they worshiped him as king, and lavished him with exotic gifts.

As we look forward to 2013, it’s likely that we too will face many decisions requiring a leap of faith. This will be the year that HeyMama starts school, and in Boston, that involves a lottery process, or perhaps even the beginning of private school. Where HeyMama goes to school will affect where MeToo goes to preschool. That will affect where and when Joy works, and could hasten career changes. This could affect if we stay where we live, or look for greener yards elsewhere. The stock market could impact BestestHusband’s job, and whether or not we can afford greener yards elsewhere. There is much that is uncertain. But thanks to Christmas, there is much that we can count on. We place our faith in a God that loves us enough to send his Son to us in human form to save us from our sinful nature. The daily events and conditions of our lives will change, but our faith can rest on the unwavering love of Christ. And with that in mind, we can take our leaps of faith, with a calm confidence in our future.

We pray that your 2013 is full of peace, love, and joy. We pray that your leaps of faith this year are as richly rewarded as the Magi’s were.

With love,

BestestHusband, Joy, HeyMama, and MeToo