You know you live in Germany when last-minute Christmas shopping at Wal Mart is not an option.
Yes, stores close early in the States on Christmas Eve too, but here in Germany, the store closing does not end on Christmas Day. It is extended to the 26th. Stores also are closed on Sundays, so this year we cannot go shopping 3 and a half days in a row (Half on Thursday for Christmas Eve, Friday for Christmas, Saturday for the day after Christmas, and Sunday because every Sunday is a day off). Most Germans go grocery shopping many times each week, buying small amounts of food each time. This is why refrigerators and freezers here are so much smaller than the ones in America. This week, however, we saw the Germans stocking up on food. On Wednesday when we went into the grocery store, it was more crowded than I have ever seen it! People were gettting cart-loads of food, and all of the registers had long lines.
It can seem like an annoyance to not have the convenience of being able to run to the store and get milk if we run out, but it actually forces us to relax. We can’t do anything, so we don’t feel like we have to. We have time to spend with family, rather than running around to different stores.
This is one of the things I really appreciate about German culture. Germans work hard, but they preserve their rest time just as seriously. Sundays are rest days, and you cannot take that away! Christmas is a rest day, and there is nothing that will tempt you to give that up!
I think back to the Israelites having to do all their extra preparations the day before the Sabbath. That must have been annoying on the day with all the extra work, but the day of rest is satisfying and gives them time to get their perspective back in line. They have time to sit at Jesus’ feet, because all the preparation and worrying are done.
Rest. It’s a good thing. No wonder God commanded it!
