I had just settled in for a long winter's night, with a bowl of chips and A Wind at My Back Christmas. My cat was sprawled happily beside me, and I had barely hit "Play," when ... it happened. POP! CRASH! BANG! CLANG! My cat flew to her feet and raced downstairs. I hit "Stop" on my movie, set aside my chips, and hurried across the hall to where my brother was watching television. Before I could say a word, he met me in the hall and quickly asked, "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Do you know what it was?"
"I think it was thunder," Travis suggested. But I wasn't so sure, since it was a crystal clear night. I decided to go downstairs to investigate. Mom and Dad weren't home, but Grandpa was downstairs. So I went down to his room, to see if he knew what the strange noise was. Well, when I asked him, what to my wondering ears did appear but a questioning, "I didn't hear anything." Now I was getting a little creeped out. Grandpa and I walked around the house, checking doors, making sure nothing had fallen or broken, and trying to figure out what the strange noise was. Finally we gave up, Grandpa going back to his room and me to my movie.
About half an hour later, I heard the garage door begin to open. "Oh good, Mom and Dad are home," I thought to myself. But suddenly, the garage door stopped. Then started. Then stopped. Then started. And so on, until finally Mom and Dad came through the front door. It was then that Grandpa came upstairs, smiling brightly. "I know what the sound is," he said. "One of your garage door springs has popped." It seems that when the springs that make the garage door go up and down are put under enough pressure and stress, they simply burst and with a pop, crash, bang, and clang, the garage door is useless.
During the holiday season, we're put under a lot of pressure and stress, just like that garage spring. So many things to do, so little time to do it. Baking, wrapping, singing, buying, reading, watching, listening, decorating, going to Christmas concerts and plays, and a million other things. But what we're all susceptible of, and what we all must guard ourselves against, is popping. Exploding. Bursting. Simply unable to handle the pressure any longer and losing it. During this last week before Christmas, let's focus our minds and hearts on Christ, as we prepare to celebrate His birth this weekend. Let's make an effort on spending time in the Word. Let's strive to spend time in prayer. Let's work on keeping Christ central in all the busyness. Because now, since that spring popped, our garage door is useless. So let's not pop under the stress of many things that will be of no eternal value and find ourselves useless to worship Christ. Let's prepare for the celebration of our Saviour's birth by choosing to focus on Him, not on the unimportant tasks. This holiday season, let's be Marys, not Marthas.