Tangled Lights and Holy Nights

Tangled Lights and Holy Nights:

A Humorous Christmas Devotional About the Hustle and Bustle of the Season

"Be still, and know that I am God."

(Psalm 46:10 KJV)

It all started with a tangle of lights. Mabel Jean Simmons, the self-appointed “Queen of Christmas Cheer” in the little town of Sweetgum Hollow, had declared that this year, her house would outshine the Baptist church's nativity display.

“We are not going to be out-sparkled by a plastic baby Jesus this year, Earl!” she shouted from the attic.

Her husband Earl, who had just wanted to watch the football game in peace, was knee-deep in a mountain of tangled extension cords, plastic candy canes, and something that looked suspiciously like a squirrel’s winter stash.

By the second week of December, Mabel Jean had already triple-booked herself: Christmas cookie exchange on Monday, church play costume sewing on Tuesday, gingerbread house competition on Wednesday, and an emergency prayer meeting when the church copier caught fire printing the bulletin on Thursday.

“I just feel like I don’t have enough time to get everything done!” she huffed, frosting in her hair and glitter on her glasses. “Jesus saved the world, and I haven't even put my wreath up yet!”

Meanwhile, her youngest grandkid stuck a candy cane in the dog’s ear, the smoke detector kept going off thanks to a “festive but experimental” fruitcake recipe, and Earl accidentally plugged 17 blow-up snowmen into the same outlet and blacked out the entire block.

Still, Mabel Jean pushed on - wrapping, baking, decorating, and singing “O Holy Night” just slightly off-key and always one verse too long.

But one night, on the 23rd of December, she sat down on the front porch with a peppermint mocha and a sigh so deep it shook the inflatable Santa.

“I’m tired, Lord,” she whispered. “I’ve hustled, bustled, and about busted. I did it all for Christmas, but somewhere in the tinsel tornado, I think I missed You.”

And right then, Earl stepped outside with a blanket, draped it over her shoulders, and sat beside her in the quiet. No lights blinking. No carolers warbling. Just stars twinkling above them and the wind whispering through the pine trees.

“You know,” he said softly, “the first Christmas didn’t have cookies or casseroles. Just a barn, a baby, and a whole lotta peace.”

Mabel Jean smiled. “And no twinkling lights?”

“Only one,” he said, pointing upward to the Christmas star.

Reflection:

Sometimes we run ourselves ragged trying to make Christmas perfect - as if Jesus will only show up if our ham is glazed and the garland is fluffed. But the first Christmas wasn’t polished or perfect. It was messy, quiet, and holy.

In the middle of our hustle and bustle, Jesus is simply waiting for us to sit still and remember: He already came. We don’t have to do Christmas right. We just have to receive it right.

Prayer:

"Lord, help me to slow down and remember what Christmas is really about. In the middle of tangled lights, burnt cookies, and crowded calendars, remind me that You are the peace I truly need. Amen."