What a weekend! I thought you were supposed to look forward to the weekend because its during that short 2 day break from the normal work week that you can rest and relax a bit right? I must say for me it’s been one of those weekends where I was honestly looking forward to Monday because I am exhausted. Like so many others I am sure this weekend was filled with Christmas preparations nonstop. From Christmas ornaments, paper snowflakes, lights, snowmen, presents, musical practice and all the other hustle and bustle it’s been overwhelming.
This past Saturday we decided to put up the Christmas tree. Macie is always so excited and it’s something she looks forward to every year. Although I look forward to it also its always such a huge process. With moving furniture and getting out the boxes of ornaments and decorations, it literally takes hours and hours to get all the Christmas decorations up and the tree trimmed and glowing beautifully. This year as we were trying to get prepared so that we could decorate the tree Scott and I were both super frustrated at all the sorting and reorganizing of papers, iv supplies, toys, clothes, just lots and lots of stuff and the attitude and energy that flowed through our house was downright ugly. It was a moment of realization for me that I had gotten so caught up in doing that I forgot who I was doing it all for.
Christmas is a time of celebration and joy, a time we can be reminded of the birth of our Savior Jesus. Every year as Macie’s birthday approaches I begin the preparations for the perfect party. I work on decorations, presents, guest lists, location, food, and the next thing I know it’s become such a huge task it’s exhausting. I can’t tell you how many pictures we have from parties Macie has had in the past and I look a hot mess because I had been running around up until the very start of the party so much that I wonder how many of those parties I really enjoyed and wasn’t so wrapped up in the busyness to just sit back and celebrate. Christmas is a lot like this every year for so many. We want to make sure everything is just right, the house is decorated beautifully, all the details are in place for when we have people are over, we picked out the perfect gift for each person, each family member has the perfect outfit to wear to Church for Christmas Sunday, the next thing we know our calendars are busting at the seams and we are running around so frazzled we can hardly think straight. Can anyone relate?? Does anyone else understand what this feels like, am I the only one?
When I had that ah ha moment Saturday while decorating the tree, I really had to stop take a deep breath and say to myself “why are you doing all this? “Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” My attitude needed adjusting and I needed to be reminded that instead of planning the perfect party for Jesus birthday He just wanted me to be a guest. I think Jesus would be flattered at all we do to prepare for His birthday but if it merely causes us to lose sight of Him, then I would imagine He would tell us to save the decorations and presents because we are missing the point.
As Christmas quickly approaches I just encourage you to evaluate your attitude, your schedule and your priorities and be aware of the reason we do all the “stuff” in the first place. I love being with family, I love gift giving, I love decorating our tree, I love seeing all the beautiful lights glowing from house to house but I don’t ever want to get so caught up in all the “stuff” we do that I lose sight of who we do it for. My prayer is this “Jesus please forgive my selfish heart, remove anything that is a hindrance and is of my own agenda. Make me aware of the times where my attitude stinks and I need a major adjustment and help me to be conscious of the chaos and busyness. It’s all about you Jesus and because of that I celebrate You, not just on December 25th Christmas day, but now this whole season. Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me”
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