Choosing joy through the chaos of Christmas . . .

 

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” Luke 2:1-5

If you count yourself among those making their way back to their hometown this Christmas then you are among good company. I imagine Joseph and Mary would have been interesting company, good company. Like a lot of us they were on a schedule, needing to be someplace at a certain time and the car rental and hotel accommodations they booked through Bethlehem’s Best Prices failed to measure up.

I imagine they were cold and hungry and tired; a pregnant Mary longing for the comfort of home and her mother and something familiar. The roads crowded with others returning home just to be taxed must have been less than festive, filled with grumbling men, whining children and complaining women. It sounds like a modern airport at holiday time, sans luxury strollers and Starbucks.

Year after year we follow in the path of this young couple, loading up, preparing for the trip, hoping to find joy and light and laughter at the end of the journey. Or maybe you are the end of the journey, having passed from childhood and young adulthood to that moment in time when the torch is passed and you become the familiar.

Wherever you are on this journey, Mary’s perspective offers peace and hope through the holiday season. Her journey was not convenient or comfortable. Her life circumstance from the outside looking in was scandalous. Her options were few. Those were the facts of her life.

But her perspective on those facts, as evidenced by her own words, reflects a heart of faith and trust and hope in her God. In Luke 1: 46-48, Mary says,

“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.“

Mary could have complained. She could have nagged Joseph, tried to barter with God, even refused to go along with God’s plan, but she chose to rejoice. Not just make the best of it, not expect the worst and hope for better, but truly rejoice. I’m sure her back and her feet ached as she walked beside Joseph, this man not yet her husband. Surely she moaned or grumbled a little, she was human. And don’t get me started about giving birth in a barn, no sterile field or modern equipment, yet her heart glorified the Lord and she rejoiced.

As we journey ever closer to Christmas, let’s choose to rejoice. Let’s choose to share joy with our children, no matter what gets broken or how many times they miss the potty. Let’s choose to share joy with our spouses despite differences of opinion on what gifts to buy or who should sit where at the table. Let’s choose to share joy with every waitress, check out clerk, on-line customer assistant, and flight attendant we encounter. Like Mary, let’s rejoice that God has been mindful of his humble servants.

This humble servant will be the end goal for several family members on Christmas. No one has to travel far, but everyone will be on a schedule. In-laws, church services, and sons-in-law who have to work all add to the chaos; chaos akin to a young woman and her fiance urgently looking for a place to have a baby in a town full of grumpy people.

Somewhere after midnight on Christmas Eve, once all the guests are tucked in, I usually find myself in my living room. It is quiet and the room is illuminated only by Christmas tree lights and the stars that shine through our large windows. It is a moment of peace and tranquility. I am usually tired from all the events of the day, and I can guarantee the next day will start loud and early, but for that moment it is a silent night, a holy night. A time to ponder, and I wonder if Mary experienced a moment of peace on that night so long ago. A moment of awe and wonder as she lay back on the cold, hard hay covered floor and chose joy.

Cookies are a sweet part of Christmas chaos at my house. Christmas music blaring, flour on the counter, laughter and spices in the air, cookie baking is happy, memory making chaos. My mom is an amazing baker, and one of her Christmas specialties is a Scandinavian inspired recipe for Almond Tarts. I used to watch in amazement as she would roll ball after ball making the bases for these exquisite tarts. Mine are not as perfect as hers, but I have gotten faster!

Almond Tarts

Base of Tart

• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups Gold Medal Flour

Grease mini-muffin pans and pre-heat oven to 350*. Cream butter and sugar in electric stand mixer. Add egg, flour and almond, mix until dough forms a ball. Pinch off a small amount of dough and roll into a walnut sized ball. Place ball in the center of a mini muffin cup and press dough down evenly to fill the cup, forming a base for the tart. Bases should be about 3/4″ thick.

Filling

• 1/3 cup butter softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 pound almond paste*

Cream butter and sugar in electric stand mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Crumble almond paste into egg mixture and beat well, until mixture is smooth. This will take some time. Place a heaping teaspoonful of filling on each unbaked, base. Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes. They should be golden in color. Using a slender knife, remove from tart pans. Cool on wire racks over waxed paper in preparation for the glaze.

*Almond paste can be hard to find and expensive. My mom always managed to buy some from a local bakery and she still gets it from the bakery at Publix. I am able to find marzipan logs at Lidl that work really well.

Powdered Sugar Glaze

• 1 cup Confectionary Sugar
• 1-3 Tbsp milk
• 1/8-1/4 tsp almond extract

I have a confession to make. I never measure when I make glaze. I pour and mix until the consistency is what I want. The humidity at my house varies, and the desired thickness of the glaze also varies. This is a trial and error recipe for you, put some confectionary sugar in a pourable, glass measuring cup. Add the milk until you get the consistency you want, that is still a pourable drizzle. Add the almond extract if you want to, some people don’t like the power of the almond flavor, you can opt for vanilla extract. When the tarts have cooled, but before they are cold, pour the glaze over the tarts, forming a puddle of glaze in the center of each tart.

We often double this recipe. Tarts keep well in a covered container for several weeks.