“Have a Mary Christmas!” I told many people this when I was a small child. Often, they would chuckle or furrow their eyebrows. To me, these reactions were confusing. That is until my mom realized what I was saying. She informed me it was “Merry” and not “Mary.” I didn’t even know merry was a real word. I thought people were saying Mary because she was Jesus’ momma and Christmas was about Him anyway.

Over time, I did come to understand the difference. I also realized each Christmas was special in its own way. That being said, there were traditions I looked forward to each year: church services, being with my family, listening to Christmas songs, decorations and lights, TV holiday specials, treats and candy, and of course, opening presents.

Then came my wonderful teenage years. One year in high school, I had a Christmas that was unusually stressful. To say there was drama going on is an understatement. I’m not going into the details, but I still remember all of them. I had never experienced anything previously to that level. It was so painful that it took the Christmas joy out of everything for me. My stomach was even upset. Basically, I was absolutely miserable. Once Christmas was over, I realized that I had allowed all that unnecessary drama rob me of enjoying the season. Now I had to wait a whole year to enjoy Christmas again.

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” Philippians 4:4 (KJV)

Being a young Christian at the time, I was still relying on my circumstances for happiness. That was so wrong of me. Our circumstances constantly change, but Jesus stays the same forever. So, rejoice in Him every day. You don’t have to wait for Christmas.

I hope you all had a Mary Christmas this year!