Keeping Christ In Christmas

I have a confession to make. I have a huge love-hate relationship with December.

I love Thanksgiving! The time with family, the focus on gratitude, the food, glorious food!! But when it is
over, these mixed feelings about the coming month seem to drop right onto me. It isn’t that I don’t look forward to worshiping my Savior, that’s the part I love! I love taking time to focus on Him and His life, exploring all that I appreciate about Him and my relationship with Him.

The part I hate is that as December approaches, I start to feel super anxious. After sitting with my feelings for a little while last year, I was able to identify why I have these feelings. Aside from being a business owner and knowing that this is the busiest time of year for me and my little flannel board stories, it’s the urgency, the busyness, the demands I put on myself that cause such anxiety. It’s the list of things I feel I need to do to make sure my family has a “memorable” Christmas. It’s the crowded stores and the rude people, including what I begin to become in the chaos.

Maybe you can relate? Maybe amidst all that craziness you also tend to lose track of the important things, the part you love, the reason for the season. After this mindful discovery last year, I made some intentional changes and it became one of my very favorite Decembers ever. And imagine, I was also a happier human and a better mom by tapping into this little secret.

What did I do? I put Jesus first.

I read and pondered on scripture stories about Him first thing every morning and created a theme for the day.
I found a song I could listen to throughout the day that would keep that theme in my heart.
I found quotes that went with the theme, because I’m a “wordy” and words speak peace to my soul.
I created little daily challenges that would help me ponder a little deeper on the gifts Christ offers each of us.
And I found family-friendly activities that would support the theme.
And then…. I shared it with my friends online.

I have learned that for me, the best accountability for doing good things is to share what I am doing with others. It keeps me motivated when I might otherwise find reasons not to do it. So, you will find me often creating challenges, systems, and programs to fulfill my own need for learning and growth. I always hope that God will take my efforts, magnify them, and make them a blessing for someone else as well.

I am planning to do this same thing again this year. I want to keep Christ in Christmas. I want to experience the same feelings of joy and peace I felt last year. If you want to join me, I would love that!

Starting December 1st, I will be sharing these scriptures, songs, quotes, challenges, and activity suggestions as a daily dose of spirituality to help us remember the reason for the season in my Anchoring in Christ group on Facebook. If this is not something that would serve you well at this time, I urge you to spend some time pondering how you can spend time each day of December keeping Christ in Christmas and finding His peace to make this December one of your best ones ever!

Get Hope. Get Christ. Get Anchored

Song: Do you Have Room? By Shawna Belt Edwards