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Our expectations of Christmas can feel like they come from a Hallmark movie, which doesn’t do us a lot of favors (as much as we love them). The cultural ideal that we’ll be fulfilled and content at Christmas, that everything will fall into place, acts as a magnifying glass to the unmet expectations that we hold all year round. 

Through the lives of Elizabeth and Mary, we get a bit of a cultural reset when it comes to our Christmas ideals. What's so helpful about Mary and Elizabeth’s story is the realistic Christmas it portrays—one full of God’s promises being fulfilled in the midst of difficult seasons. By returning to this Scripture, we can sift through the romantic version of a cultural Christmas and see something truthful. A Christmas that celebrates God’s promises coming to fruition in the midst of a dark and waiting world in the person of Jesus. 

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