By Kate Williams

Staying ‘Inn’ for Christmas

Last Christmas was a miserable one for me. Two days before Christmas, I caught some kind of flu-like lurgy. I missed the annual Christmas Eve buffet at our friend's house, which meant I missed Lisa’s homemade scotch eggs, a glass of fruity gin, and a night of laughter with good friends. I had some ridiculous ‘squat a candy cane into a loo roll’ party games planned, which I missed inflicting on my friends and watching the festive fun unfold.

I got up on Christmas Day, determined to make it to my parents' house for Christmas dinner. I did my best to look happy as we opened our presents at home in the morning, but I felt as rough as a badger’s behind. We set off for my parents' house, and I felt awful. We were booked in to stay at a nearby Premier Inn that night, and I told my husband to drop me straight there. I just need to lie down and sleep it off.

I spent most of Christmas Day on my own in the Premier Inn. I was ‘inn’ and I desperately wanted to be out! It was like the opposite of the Christmas story - there was plenty of room at the Premier Inn!

I felt a real sadness about my solo Christmas day, and that’s ok - I missed out on happy times with people I love. Sometimes we need to sit with our sadness for a while as we process these feelings of disappointment. We also need to be self-compassionate and not beat ourselves up for feeling down because Christmas has not gone as we had hoped or expected.

As well as acknowledging our sadness and disappointment, I also think it’s really important that we try to practise gratitude and thank God for the ‘mini wins’ and blessings, even in the midst of our disappointment. On my Christmas Day ‘inn’ last year, I was ill and it was far from the festive fun I had planned. However, I had a warm, comfy Premier Inn bed - approved by Lenny Henry! I watched a lovely programme called ‘The Piano’ which I’d never seen before. My dad sent a turkey sandwich, and I managed to eat and enjoy that. I was thought of and cared for and comfy in the midst of my lurgy. And for that I was grateful.

Resist getting your tinsel in a tangle if your festive plans go wrong. Try to remember that our priority as believers during the Christmas season is to reflect on the birth of our incredible Saviour, Jesus. His name is Emmanuel - God with us. Jesus is ‘God with us’ when we scoff the scotch eggs with good friends at the Christmas Eve party. He’s also ‘God with us’ in the midst of our ‘flaked out with flu’ times on our own in a Premier Inn. He is ever-present in the highs and the lows of our lives. Jesus, our Emmanuel, ‘pitched his tent and made his dwelling among us’. John 1:4. He truly understands the reality of our lives and knows what it’s like to have a less-than-perfect Christmas.

I hope you have a fab festive season, but if it doesn’t meet your expectations, please be kind to yourself. Acknowledge your sadness and disappointment and invite Jesus into that space as you do so. Thank him for the mini wins and blessings even if you are ‘inn’ disappointing days. Thank him for being God with us throughout the festive feels and the festive fails.

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