Anna Heydon has started sorting through her Christmas decorations, but finds that some have lost their sparkle

When I haul out my stash of Christmas decorations each year there are always a few that look a bit tired: fabric that has become faded and baubles that are scratched in spite of the bubble wrap. Some I get rid of, others I hold on to for sentimental reasons. I feel a kind of affinity to those ornaments at times
 
After decades of Christmases there are occasions when my sparkle also feels tarnished by less cheerful memories, and I feel like I might crack under the pressures that the season brings. There are times when Christmas doesn’t even feel worth holding on to
 
My daughter, on the other hand, is full of anticipation and eagerness about Christmas. She starts singing Christmas songs in October and begs me to decorate the house in November. I love her enthusiasm and cheerfulness about Christmas even though I don’t always feel able to attain it myself
 
It reminds me of Jesus’s words that “unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child” (Matthew 18:3,4)
 
Children often have an openness which allows them to experience life and relationships in a way which we sometimes close ourselves off to as adults.  Having been hurt many times, we may build walls around ourselves to protect ourselves from pain, but they can also sometimes shut out joy and keep other people at a distance, even God. However, Jesus asks us to make ourselves vulnerable to Him; to be humble and break down our walls so that He can come in
 
After all, at Christmas we celebrate the fact that God has led the way: He literally became a vulnerable child for us. In return, this Christmas as I put up the decorations, I’m going to try to open up my jaded heart and sing a Christmas song to Him
 
Image by Monika on Pixabay

Anna Heydon is a content editor for Network Norfolk and Development Worker for Imagine Norfolk Together in Great Yarmouth, a joint venture between the Diocese of Norwich and the Church Urban Fund, a national organisation set up by the Church of England to combat unmet needs in communities

Visit:  Imagine Norfolk Together 

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