“And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth.” (Isaiah 6:3)

What? It’s not real! It’s just Styrofoam. Hollow. Empty. It is just a façade. Fake. Made to look real.

I discovered one year after a hurricane that those beautiful stone covered columns that anchor our fences around the neighborhood are nothing more than a façade. The pyramid stone that caps each column is nothing more than Styrofoam masquerading as stucco.

I often feel like that. Some days I feel like my makeup is the glue that is holding me together. It’s the spray over my façade I try to present to people. Especially on those days I’m feeling hollow, empty, fake.

Then God reminds me of that stable.  The last place available for Mary and Joseph. Bethlehem was full. Every room booked. Every cranny filled. But God chose a stable. Not the Ritz or a king’s palace. Some say it may have been no more than a cave.

He reminds me that it isn’t how you dress something up. How pretty it looks on the outside. It is the heart. No matter how much you dress up the outside, the top is going to come off one day, and expose you.

He reminds me that the baby that was born is the only thing that can fill every empty place within me. He reminds me who I am and how I look are not important. It is whose I am and who holds my heart. Our culture tells us what we see in the frame, not the mess, is what defines us. God wants us to see where we come from isn’t what defines us, or what frames our lives. He invites us to step out of the masquerade, step out of our “perfect” frame and meet Him in the stable. Meet the baby that is our Savior.