Decorating. Shopping, Wrapping. Baking. Planning. Sprinkle in a few brunches and parties, plus the on-going normal day-to-day obligations; Tis the Season… and there is ALOT to do!

• Does the non-stop flurry of activity ever make you feel like the Grinch?

• Your merry mood and best intentions quickly unraveled by stress?

• Do you proclaim “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” yet your heart is too consumed for worship and rest?

When my oldest was just two years old I heard a speaker at a women’s church luncheon on the topic of Redeeming Christmas. While that one talk all those years ago did not prevent all holiday stress forever, it did serve to reorient my perspective, shape our traditions and form the foundation of how we do Christmas.

So what is Redeeming Christmas?

Celebrating Christ and People, not Santa and things.

Does that mean the latter two need to be thrown out the window?

No. It’s just not what I want to focus on or be consumed by. Instead my desire is that seeking to elevate Christ and others is what would actually guide how we celebrate, decorate, give, schedule our time and activities.

There is no prescription I give you for this. And as my husband’s Galatians sermon series continues to emphasize, living under the law is bondage. I say this because what works for our family may be different for yours and that is OK.  All I want to do with this post is throw out a few thoughts for reflection before Christmas craziness spirals out of control… so that we might be purposeful about what we say matters most. 

To that end…

• Do I make silent, still time to prepare my heart for the Coming of Christ? What about helping my family prepare their hearts?

• Are there activites, traditions or spending that can be eliminated to free us from distraction while being sucked further in to materialism and what the world says is important?

• What would it look like to reoriente our calendar so we can enjoy spending time with others during the advent season instead of scurrying around all the time?

• How can I personally and in our family focus more on Christ and less on the commercial and secular aspects of Christmas?

• Pray we would see how the joy of the season is robbed when we are too BUSY: B-eing U-nder S-atan’s Y-oke.

Come to think of it, these ideas for Redeeming Christmas can and should guide us in every season! How much more joyful and freeing for Redeeming all our time if we focus first on Christ and People!

Ann Voskamp’s new book pictured above is as beautifully written to help us Behold Christ, as her One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are that I mentioned on my Thanksgiving Day post. Don’t want to miss any post? Enter your email on the upper right-hand column after “Follow blog via email”.