Anne Neilson's Christmas Angels: A 5-Day Plan to Focus Your Heart for Christmasნიმუში

Our Response to the Ultimate Gift

When you think of Christmas, what comes to mind?

For me there are many emotions: Anticipation. Joy. Peace.

And then there are the tears. My children will tell you that what they remember on most Christmas mornings is me crying. And I was not crying because my heart was tender toward a baby born to take away the sins of the world. No, I was crying because I was exhausted. Flat-out exhausted.

Most Christmas mornings, I had scurried around for weeks leading up to the magical day. Prepping the house to make it warm and inviting. Stringing thousands of lights on the Christmas tree only to have them fail to shine the moment I plugged them in. Shopping for the right gifts for each of my family members.

Early on, when my children were little, someone gave me the idea not to go crazy in the gift-giving department and to set expectations for only three gifts to each child—much like what the wise men brought the baby Jesus. What a great idea!

Yet that was really difficult for me to adhere to. When I went shopping, I kept purchasing little things, like a new set of pajamas or a cute pair of socks—whatever I thought my children might like. Those three gifts I intended to buy multiplied into a lot more, filling the space under the tree with so many presents.

On Christmas morning, always after reading the Christmas story in the New Testament, we would settle ourselves around the tree, and I would play Santa, distributing each of the gifts I had wrapped—those first gifts wrapped neatly and carefully, with folded edges taped just perfectly and adorned with tied ribbons and bows, followed by the hastily wrapped gifts with a simple peel-and- stick bow slapped on top.

Then the complaining would start. I would hear echoes of “I didn’t want this” and “Why did you buy this?” My heart would break, and after a few moments, the tears would start to flow. My children’s complaints in the midst of an abundant, bountiful display of gifts would make me think of so many others going through Christmas without having much—like the people experiencing homelessness who were struggling on the streets, or people living paycheck to paycheck, or those with no gift to open at all. And even though my children were just being children (and great reminders of our humanity!), in those moments, I would encounter some of the heaviness that can come with this season.

My heart ached, not only for the people living on the street or those going without, but for my own family. I prayed that Jesus, the baby in the manger we were celebrating on this special day, would touch the hearts of my family. I prayed they would know that Jesus is enough, that Jesus is the real gift at Christmastime. I prayed He would save us from our pain, from our disappointments, from sickness and disease, from the hardness and the unfairness of life, and even from our own sometimes misguided hearts.

So you can see how I ended up in tears on so many Christmas mornings. But these times ultimately helped me recenter and refocus my family on Christ. Christmas gave each of us a chance to really embrace the gift of Jesus. So that is my prayer for you throughout this Advent journey.

Preparing Our Hearts for Jesus

I pray that you may be able to prepare your heart for this wonderful gift, that you may be able to open the gift of Jesus not just on Christmas Day but every day, and that you may be able to open your heart to the wonder of these gifts that came with a baby born in a humble barn.

Throughout this little Advent book, I am going to share stories, scriptures, and prayers as we prepare our hearts for Jesus. Each week has a focus—hope, love, joy, and peace—so that you can experience all that Jesus brings at Christmas, especially when you’re feeling the lack of those four virtues. We’ll look at the prophecies in the Old Testament—those moments of history that bring such wonder and revelation to my heart—that point to Jesus and that became flesh all those years later when the Christ child was born. We’ll delight in the nativity story found in all four gospels and how those present at Jesus’ birth offer a word for us today. And we’ll pray that God increases hope, love, joy, and peace in our hearts as we reflect on the gift of Jesus.

If you’re familiar with my art, you might know I love to paint angels. Painting these angels for this book gave me the opportunity to imagine what the nativity was like—what it would have felt like for Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men to encounter angels at this most awe-inspiring time.

If you’re seeking God this season, you will find Him. I believe that. And I pray that as you navigate this Advent journey, doors will be unlocked for you that will usher in peace in the midst of chaos, hope when your situation seems hopeless, love when you feel unloved. More than anything, I hope this season brings the joy and expectation that God goes before you and has a plan for you—and, as the prophet Jeremiah said, that plan is to bring you hope and a future (29:11).

With my art and my writing, I know I am called to be a light in this world, pointing people to Jesus and to the truth of God’s Word. God is so big and can do some pretty incredible things, like having an angel visit a young virgin girl to tell her she would be carrying the Son of God. God can do amazing, miraculous things in your life too.

I pray that during this holiday season—through prayer, His living Word, and also through glimpses of my life and art—you will see a big God doing big things in your life. I pray that during this Advent season you will find the kind of hope, love, joy, and peace that only Jesus brings.