I did the crazy-mall-in-December thing today. I went early, armed with my coupons and a game plan outlined on my phone. I wore comfortable shoes. I was hydrated. Game on.

Somehow I still ended up in the dressing room, two hours in, texting an SOS to my husband: “I very overwhelmed.” (I was no longer speaking in full sentences at that point).

I wasn’t in the dressing room trying anything on. I was in the dressing room to stop my head from spinning. I needed to take stock. I needed to sit down.

My husband answered my text quickly, as a captain to a field agent: “Get out of there.”

It was a war zone out there, with the noise and the sale grenades and the swarms of determined, cranky people. One cashier was so rude, I asked to speak to the manager. Unfortunately, he was the manager. Driving home, on that outer death circle of a road around the mall, I almost got hit. Twice. I saw a lot of, um, interesting gesturing going on as people stole parking spots from each other and cut each other off, merging into the aforementioned death circle.

I spent the last paragraph pointing a lot of fingers at the crazy mall people, but I’m one of them. I’m not even a week into December, and I’ve already seen myself lose my cool, perhaps more privately, but it’s there. The short-temper, the impatient sighs, the eye-rolling I do in my head.

I met a lady in Target last week who saw me with my children, made a comment about how cute they were, and then proceeded to look me right in my eyes. She encouraged me to love them, thanked me for raising them, and then blessed me with the old Irish blessing. She gave me a hug and went on her way, leaving me quite speechless in the party supplies aisle. And as I wheeled my cart to the checkout line, I passed the same old lady in the school supply aisle, patting the hand of another stranger, passing out more encouragement.

Love just oozed out of this lady, just seeped out of her. I can only imagine how long she was at Target, passing out blessings.

Jesus loved us so much that he came here, doing the crazy-world-in-December thing. Did he know how terribly we behave in the death circle around the mall? Did he know how we act when we are tired and thirsty and want a parking spot? Did he know how greedy we get when there’s a deal to be had?

Yes. He came willingly and dwelt among us all: cranky, stubborn, ignorant, prideful people. He gave love and encouragement at every turn. I don’t know how he did it, how he loved us unlovable people, but he did. He loved us, won our forgiveness, and paid the punishment in our place. Beyond all our understanding, He loves us crazy mall people.

Dear Lord,

I am sorry for losing my cool over silly things in December. I’m sorry for my impatience, for my greed, for my disregard for other people. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for coming here, this crazy-terrible world, to save us from ourselves and our sins. Please give me strength to let my light shine and to share your love with others this season. May your will be done in my life, in my comings and goings. In your name, Amen.

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”  -Psalm 103:10-12