Is there room?

 There's an iconic meme going around about the 1997 movie Titanic. At the end of the movie when the Titanic ship starts sinking (spoiler alert), there's an infamous picture of Rose floating on what seems to be a piece of a door, or some sort of wooden object. Her beloved Jack is clinging to the side of it in the frigid waters clearly suffering from hypothermia. The biggest debate about this scene is...was there enough room on the board for both of them to survive? It's a hot topic of discussion landing people on both sides of the debate.

We moved into this house about 6 months ago now and on the first day here, we found out we were expecting. Plot twist! With the stress of moving comes the many many unpacked boxes and toys of old that are carefully hidden away. It was just a few weeks ago that we dedicated a whole day to cleaning out the spare bedroom. The room that once served as a storage area/toy room/unpacked boxes/future rummage sale items, etc....is meant to serve as a new nursery for this coming baby. We spent countless hours reorganizing things, finding a new space for storage, and reassembling the crib and all baby things. It was work. It was hard. It was time consuming. But it was all in preparation for the coming bundle of joy.

 These past couple months have been filled with illness, quarantines, and a lot of frustrating events. I sit here and look at my coming schedule and am filled with anxiety over how I'm ever going to make it to Christmas. Between the Christmas programs, dance recitals, family get togethers, and all holiday events, I'm simply overwhelmed. The stack of presents sits in my basement waiting to be wrapped. The lists of things to buy yet keeps growing. And then throw in the holy terror that is potty training and I'm one broken candy cane away from becoming Clark Griswald in his post Christmas meal rant....."Hallelujah where's the Tylenol????" I am tired, I am exhausted, I am weary. I ask myself what is taking up the most room in my heart? I'm letting all these bad things take up unnecessary space. If I were to take inventory of the things in my own heart, I'd say it's full of cobwebs, shattered hopes, fears, doubts, and frustration. In a season where we should be joyful, sometimes it's easier to feel everything but joy.

 A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices. When darkness is all around us, suddenly the brightest star shines above Bethlehem. Jesus came not to bring sadness and fear, but to bring the world a sense of peace. The best gift of all came to us in the most unexpected of ways. Can I ask you - what is taking up the most space inside your own heart? Maybe instead of welcoming the fears and doubts this season, we need to put in the work of making room for what really matters. Cleaning out the garbage and reorganizing the unopened boxes of feelings. Taking out the trash and wiping up the dust. Creating a new space to welcome Jesus into...one that is clean and open and fit for a king. The areas of the heart that have been vacant for way too long are just waiting for a relationship with the One that loves you no matter where you find yourself this season. As Marie Kondo famously says: "Get rid of all that does not spark joy." It might take some work and patience, but think of how beautiful of a space can be created in preparation for Christ. This year I'm going to focus more on the good and beautiful things of God, instead of my current circumstances. I hope you'll do the same. Let every heart prepare Him room. If you ask me, there probably was plenty of room on that board for Jack too if only they would've made the effort. But I'm not the director or the writer of the movie so I guess we'll never know. But I hope and pray that you will put in the effort to make room for Jesus - the only one that truly matters this season. Wishing you and yours a very blessed Christmas.