By RaeLynn DeAngelis
As a young mom, I wanted to make the Christmas season special for our family, like my mom had done for me and my siblings. But after a while, my desire to engage in the holiday hustle and bustle turned to dread. I felt a great deal of pressure to fit all the holiday happenings into that short window of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was exhausting!
Perhaps you can relate.
Christmas was slowly becoming more commercial and less spiritual. I tried to keep Jesus at the center, but the superficial Christmas to-do-list ended up demanding more and more of my attention. Eventually, I felt a deficit in my spirit and knew that changes needed to be made.
I decided it was time to jump off the Christmas crazy-train. I began by making small, intentional adjustments to my holiday routines, purging activities that were creating more stress and less joy.
- Rather than sending out Christmas cards once a year, I became more intentional by spending quality time with family and friends the whole year through.
- I reduced the number of decorations in our home to just a few reminders of the season. If I wanted to see more lights or decorations, we took a drive around town or scheduled community festivities.
- If I didn’t feel like baking, I didn’t. The world kept spinning whether I made Christmas cookies or not.
I started looking for Jesus in the everyday moments of the season, and in time, the wonder and joy of Christmas returned.
What about you? Would you like to focus more on Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas this year? If so, we have an early Christmas GIFT FOR YOU and it’s absolutely FREE!
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