A Reason for the Season....but how?

How many times have you heard, 

"It's the most wonderful time of the year"

or

Remember the "Reason for the Season"?

  But yet,  we are so quick to overwhelm ourselves with the busyness of the holidays and it quickly becomes the "worst time of the year".  I have been known to say numerous times, I really do not like Christmas anymore!   

We rush around from activity to activity making sure our children or grandchild have the "best holiday experience".  We try to so hard to have the best decorations or the next best light show.  And, if you're like me, you wait until December 15th or later to start your actual Christmas shopping.  (And then I wonder why I'm stressed??)

  In the grand scheme of things, this is absolutely heartbreaking!  Christmas was never ever meant to be about decorations and presents, let alone stress.  It is truly only about Christ's birth, and we've made it into an extreme escapade of worldliness.  (I plan to have a blog post up next week on the history of Christmas, for those of you who love history as much as I do.)

  So without getting on a soapbox and then needing to listen to my own lecture later, what can we do about it?  How can we get back to the basics?  How can we make Christ the center of Christmas again?   I'm hoping to give you a gift basket of ideas today that can give you a plan and a start to a new tradition. 

  Recently, some friends of ours got together with us to discuss this very thing.  My husband and I were completely overwhelmed by the whole thing of Christmas and were ready to throw in the towel and just head off to Tennessee to start a new Christmas tradition.  (Now, let it be known I was hesitant about the idea, but I would never pass up the opportunity to go to Tennessee.  It's where my heart is happy to say the least.)  They gave us all kinds of great ideas that they have done, but one thing stuck out to me.  My friend said, "Now this is not to say this is how we will always do it...."  That was key for me to hear!  (Side note:  I'm a very black and white person.  I like rules.  I like to follow those rules.  …..And the hardest part of my relationship with Christ these last few years has been coming to the realization that everything is not always black and white.  Everything does not have to be the same every. single. year.)  

  Our friends explained that they wanted to change things to make their Christmas more Christ centered.  They started celebrating Epiphany on Jan. 6 to exchange gifts.  (More on this in my history post.)  This left Christmas day open to be celebrated solely as Christ's birth.  Not to mention, more time to buy gifts at a later date and miss the "Christmas rush".  Other ideas included advent stories and Jesse trees (which are included below), having a manger instead of a tree, and watching a "family" Christmas movie every night in December.  

  I loved all of the ideas they shared!  And, mixed with some other ideas on Pinterest, along with some of our special traditions, we were able to come up with a good idea of how to keep Christ in the Center this year.  I hope that these are all an encouragement to you.  Pick one or all or mix and match. Please, share with me your Christmas traditions that are Christ Centered!    

Advent Ideas

Todd Wilson's Family Advent Stories

Jotham's Journey Advent Series

"Our Family Favorite"

Jesse Tree

You can purchase these on Etsy or Amazon.  You can also purchase just the ornaments on Ebay cheaper and then build your own tree.

Kid's Movies

Why do we call it Christmas DVD

The Star Movie

I'm working on a compilation of good clean Christmas movies.  Stay Tuned...

  Last, but not least one of the best ideas we have come across to cut out some of the "Christmas stress", has been to give each child only 3 presents each.  We started this a couple of years ago and it has been so freeing.  Someone once told us, if 3 gifts were good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for our kids!  

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

  

  

  Have you ever bought a brand new book and gently traced the title with your finger?  Or quietly flipped through the pages, taking in the deepest breath you can to smell that beautiful new book smell?  Whenever I buy a new book, I almost feel giddy inside, like I just can't wait to start this new adventure or learn everything it has to offer.  I love new beginnings!
   My cousin once told me she liked to read the last page first and it almost crushed me.  How can one ruin the entire experience of an amazing journey by reading the last chapter first?!  She explained to me that by doing so, she didn't need to rush through the fun and exciting details of the book to find out what happens in the end.  By already expecting the ending, she was able to delight in every chapter.  I really thought this peculiar, until the next time I picked up a new book.  I realized by chapter 4, I was reading as fast as I possibly could to rush to the end.
  In English class, one day, my fellow classmates were discussing an interesting aspect in a certain part of our reading assignment that I had failed to pick up on.  How had I missed that?  I always took such pride in my reading.  I realized once again, I was so focused on what was going to happen in the main plot that I was skimming over what I thought was minor details.
  This blog is like my brand new book.  But....this blog is where I'm making a promise to slow down and pay attention to detail.  I've spent too much of my life running as quickly as I can to accomplish as much as I possibly can in the shortest amount of time as I possibly can.  This past year, I feel a new outlook has presented itself to me.  Its as if I've heard a whisper saying, sit down, reread that chapter and really relish in the beauty of the whole picture.
  So, I invite you to come along and read with me.  We are going to stop and smell every flower, taste every chocolate, sing every hymn, and stand in awe of every rainbow, sunrise, and sunset.  I will make no apology for finding and pointing out the beauty and my new favorite thing in every sight we see.  However, there will be sad days too and that's ok.  The valley is what makes the mountaintops so beautiful.  I'm going to cherish the tears just as I do the smiles.  One. Simple. Day. At. A. Time.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:.....

Ecclesiastes 3:4

A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;