by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

Anytime something breaks around the house at Christmas time, you should always glue it back together with melted chocolate.

Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve said “no” to someone offering me something from their well-constructed tower of fudge-covered Christmas party delights…well, I would still have zero nickels. But there have been a lot of chocolate towers, just the same.

Is there anything we won’t cover with fudge during the holidays? Anything? Not that I’m complaining. I try not to encourage it, but I seem to have to. Maybe I mentioned before that I would’ve named one of our children Ghirardelli if my husband would’ve let me. Fannie Mae? That name was in the running too. Godiva? Okay, that one just seemed wrong, even to me. But I was still strongly considering “Whitman” for one of the boys. I’m a long-time respecter of all things chocolate covered. My favorite is when people just give up the silly pretense and start covering chocolate with chocolate.

I feel like people who say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend don’t really understand how much we like chocolate chips.

You can’t really go by me as far as what women want, that’s true. As a matter of fact, all of us—women, men, children, teens—we all tend to want whatever is wrong for us. That off-kilter “wanter” came with the curse of sin.

But I love Christmas. It’s the concentrated, celebrative reminder that Jesus came to deal with the sin curse we were powerless to get rid of. Because He paid in full with His own blood what was needed to provide the remedy for sin, He gives us His own righteousness and a right and tight relationship with a holy God. He makes us new. And with that newness comes a new way of wanting. Paul said, “For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose,” (Philippians 4:13, HCSB). He gives us the ability to do good—and the desire to do it. He’s got us covered in every perfect way, all the way to the soul.

There’s nothing more delicious in this existence than accomplishing “His good purpose” for our lives. It’s what we were made for.

People do come up with creative ways to celebrate the season. Some are good. Some are chocolate. Some are downright weird. I like what Joseph did. The one he was to marry—pregnant. What a heartbreak that must’ve been for him. But when God announced His “bigger purpose” in Joseph’s dream, do you know what Joseph did? He obeyed. From the second he woke up. “When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him,” (Matthew 1:24, HCSB).

Because Joseph obeyed, he got to witness God’s bigger purpose up close and personal. “Immanuel.” “God is with us,” (vs.23).

“God is with us” is really all I want for Christmas too. Celebrating the redemption we have in Him—our most blessed covering—that’s enough for me. 

Though if you insist on getting me a gift anyway, I don’t suppose I should argue. Let the chips fall where they may. You know I mean chocolate chips, right?

Rhonda Rhea is an award-winning humor columnist for great magazines such as HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway, and many more. She is the author of 19 books, including the popular romantic comedies co-authored with her daughter Kaley Rhea, Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated and Turtles in the Road. Rhonda and Kaley have also teamed up with Bridges TV host Monica Schmelter for the Messy to Meaningful books and TV projects. Along with Beth Duewel, Rhonda writes the Fix Her Upper series, and she also co-authored Unruffled: Thriving in Chaos with Edie Melson. She speaks at conferences and events from coast to coast, serves on many boards and committees, and stays busy as a publishing consultant. Rhonda says you can find her living near St. Louis drinking too much coffee and snort-laughing with her pastor/husband, five grown children, and a growing collection of the most exceptional grandbabies.