Surviving Chaos

We love Christmastime. Every year, when it’s time to decorate, we drag the boxes out of storage and gather as a family. One box holds the tree, another the lights, and only after those are set in place do we open the ornament boxes. Tape gets peeled back, lids get lifted, and one by one the ornaments come out, carefully wrapped in tissue paper. The room fills with excitement and laughter as our children dive into the boxes. And in that moment, what looks like decorating chaos becomes something more. Each ornament isn’t just a piece of resin or glass hanging on the tree. Every one carries a story told one ornament at a time.

Each ornament represents a moment in our journey:

• a major event,
• a new addition to the family,
• the loss of someone we loved,
• or a season worth celebrating.

Every ornament has a purpose. Each one helps tell our story and reminds us what it means to be a family.

We have followed this tradition for many years. It’s been meaningful to watch it change over the years. For years, MJ and I were the ones sharing the stories, explaining how the ornament marked a move from one state to another or how an ornament honored a family member who had passed away. But somewhere along the way, something shifted. The stories had been told so often and with such care that our children had learned them by heart. A few weeks ago, as the tree went up and the ornaments were placed one by one, I realized I wasn’t the primary storyteller anymore. Our older kids were the ones telling the stories. While holding the ornaments in their hands, they shared the journey of our family to their younger siblings. I sat back, watched, and listened as joy filled my heart.

As I listened to my children tell the stories, I realized something: God intended stories to shape the faith of future generations. Long before Christmas trees or ornaments, God allowed the faith of His people to be carried forward through storytelling, through intentional repetition of God’s love. In Deuteronomy 6, we’re reminded that our love for God is meant to be lived out in everyday moments and shared faithfully with the next generation. The story doesn’t stop with us. It’s meant to be passed on.

“Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:4-7

From the very beginning, God made it clear that our love for Him wasn’t meant to be hidden, assumed, or handed off to someone else to figure out. It was meant to be shared with the people closest to us, especially our children. Our love for Him is meant to be spoken out loud, woven into everyday life, then repeated over and over until it becomes part of who we are. This love isn’t a list of rules. It’s the kind of love that shapes your heart, your soul, and your strength. A love you live out at the dinner table, on the way to school, at bedtime, and in the quiet moments in between. A love learned by doing, showing, and passing it on intentionally.

In the same way our family tells our story year after year, God has given us a story to remember and to pass on. On the night Jesus was betrayed, just hours before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, he sat around a table with his closest friends. They were celebrating the Passover meal when Jesus took the bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and handed it to his disciples saying, “This is my body which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

After supper, Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Communion was never meant to be rushed or routine. It is a reminder, a retelling of the greatest story ever told. A story of sacrificial love. A story of grace and love. A story meant to be remembered, spoken, and shared from one generation to the next.

We are people shaped by remembrance. We are a people formed by a story of love.

Just like those ornaments on a tree, communion points us back to what matters most. It reminds us who Jesus is, what He has done, and how deeply we are loved. And it calls us to carry that story with us; to live it out and to pass it on.

Prayer

Father, thank You for the story of Your love through the gift of Your Son. Thank You for forgiveness and the promise of eternal life. Help us to remember your love and pass it on to our children, teaching them how to live it out every day. Let the love we receive from you shape our hearts, our families, and the way we live. In Jesus’ name, Amen.