Today, the entire world is filled with festivities — families getting together or connecting by phone or videoconference from afar. It is a day of feasting, showing our love for one another by giving gifts just as the Magi gave gifts to Jesus, and reveling in the traditions that leave warm fuzzies in our hearts as we spend time together, enjoying one another and giving thanks to the God of the universe who gave us CHRISTmas.

For grandparents, the joy of watching our grandchildren delight in all of this is a tremendous reward. But for many, the warm fuzzies are a reminder of yesteryear, and the reality of today is A Different Kind of Christmas.

As I write this from my mother’s hospital room in a state far away from my own family, my heart’s focus is extreme gratitude that God so miraculously spared her life!

And simultaneously, I am thankful that God has made me cognizant of so many who cannot be home with their families for Christmas — patients at hospitals and the medical staffs and workers there; military families who are protecting our nation so we can retain our freedoms to celebrate Christmas; missionaries in faraway lands; persecuted Christians in other countries who are celebrating secretly for fear of their lives; families with a loved one in prison; families who have just experienced the death of a close family member. Your whole extended family may be together, but you have to endure the day with THAT relative and try to avoid head-butting. There are grandchildren mourning the loss of Grandpa or Grandma; and there are grandpas and grandmas, along with their children, mourning the loss of a grandchild; or a wayward grandchild; or the separation of divorce and the complexity of court-designed visitations. Suicides reach their highest levels around Christmas.

For those experiencing a Different Kind of Christmas, the songs that once stirred joy in people’s hearts become catalysts that intensify their pain. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is a beautiful song when you will be home and an agonizing reminder when you won’t.

Before you get all drearied-out reading this, I’ll get right to the point: All of the sadness and pain and agony in life is precisely why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and it’s precisely why we celebrate Christmas. Sin is, and always has been, the culprit for every heartache we experience on this earth. When God sent His Son to become a human and experience everything we experience and yet never sinned, that was God instituting Christmas, or CHRIST-mass, the birth of the Son of God. The culmination of that gift to mankind took place at the resurrection when He became Savior.

Jesus said, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. — John 10:10(b)

So how do we find the abundant life amid grief or pain and suffering, especially at Christmastime?

Just like Jesus did. Because it’s not about us, or our circumstances; it’s about God’s plan from the beginning of time to return us to a relationship with Him, and eternity with Him in Heaven, by sending Christ to suffer and die for our sins and then to conquer death through His resurrection. No matter how far our society has swayed in taking the Christ out of Christmas, the fact remains that if Jesus Christ had not been born on earth, we would not be celebrating Christmas today, or ever.

But there weren’t beautifully decorated trees and homes filled with scrumptious treats, beautiful music and joyful anticipation of giving and receiving gifts that night when Jesus was born. Joseph, Mary and Jesus had A Different Kind of Christmas.

The only lights were the stars in the sky, and the “comforts” of home were a cattle feeder filled with straw for the newborn Son of God. We don’t know if they had any family with them; the Bible doesn’t mention it. As a mother and grandmother, I think about Mary’s labor. We know that it wasn’t on a Select Comfort mattress with memory foam. It was likely squatting or laying on the ground covered with a little straw. There were no hors d’oeuvres or cups of cocoa with whipped cream to accompany gift opening. There probably was little to no food for Joseph and Mary, and the only gifts were from the Magi who arrived months later. Even those gifts were symbolic of Jesus’ painful future on earth — a sinless and holy King destined for a horrible death on a cross.

Yet Joseph and Mary were joyful and praising and worshipping God, despite their miserable circumstances. They knew that this was about Jesus Christ and God’s plan to bring salvation to helpless humans sentenced to death by our own sin.

So whether you’re having a spectacular celebration with family this Christmas, hugging those grandkids, or whether you’re experiencing A Different Kind of Christmas, remember that it’s not the type of Christmas we’re celebrating that matters. It’s our relationship with the Christ of Christmas. Make sure you know Him as your Savior, and teach your grandchildren about the greatest Christmas gift in the world — salvation and eternal life in Heaven through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Now THAT’S a cause for celebration!

Have a blessed Christmas, everyone!

Rich and Barb Heki, for Grandparents of Homeschoolers

“For unto us a Child is born,
 Unto us a Son is given;
 And the government will be upon His shoulder.
 And His name will be called
 Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace
 There will be no end…” —Isaiah 9:6-7(a)