Christmas can be a special time, but it can also be a sad time of year. My grandmother, my dad, and my younger brother all died at Christmas time, and another Christmas, my mother fell and broke her hip. In the rehabilitation hospital where I work, we see obvious trends, with more stroke patients coming in our doors in January and February, patients who suffered their strokes at Christmas time.
Why is this?
And why do I always get sick at Christmas time?
If Christmas is something that Christians are meant to celebrate, then why does the season bring about so many stress-related incidents?
It is because we have made Christmas such a busy time of year! We are hustling and bustling around, decorating, baking, shopping, going to parties, trying to ensure that every member of our family is seen by us over the holidays. There is just no time to rest! Surely this isn’t what God would want for us at Christmas time!
I was thinking about all of this recently, and God gave me a Bible story:
“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’ And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'” (Luke 10:38-42, NKJV)
Suddenly I understood. It isn’t that the preparations for Christmas are wrong. What is wrong is that we make the preparations our priority! We become “distracted” by the shopping and decorating and Christmas cards, so “distracted” that we forget to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His Word!
So what can you do this year?
Here are a few practical suggestions that I am going to try.
1. Do less at Christmas. This allows us to spend more time at Jesus’ feet!
2. Don’t worry about decorating the house perfectly.
Two years ago, I became so dismayed because I had to do the decorating all by myself. This past year, on a weekend when my older son was home, I invited over his special friend, and together they, along with my younger son, had a “tree decorating” party. We had so much fun that it didn’t seem like work at all!
3. You don’t have to “do” Christmas dinner by yourself! Have it pot-luck style! Enlist the kids to do the clean up afterwards! Or maybe consider going out to dinner for Christmas dinner!
4. Remember, just because it is a “family tradition” doesn’t mean you have to do it every year! There were a few family traditions that didn’t happen last year at my house, and I don’t think anyone missed them! Perhaps the emphasis on our traditions often takes our minds off of the God we are celebrating!
5. Don’t be in a rush to take down the decorations! Do it a little at a time! In our home, we leave up the winter scenes on top of the piano and the bookcases until well into February. Why not? It’s snowy and dreary outside anyway, this just brings in a little winter cheer!
6. Start and end each day in December at the same time and in the same way you would start and end your day any other month of the year. If you aren’t finished wrapping presents by the time you would normally have some quiet time aside with God, put aside the gift-wrapping! The preparations can wait! Remember, Mary chose the “good part” — she sat at Jesus’ feet!
7. Start planning for Christmas months in advance. Think about the people you would like to give gifts too. Is there something you could make that would be special to them? Something that is truly giving of you?
Here are just a few examples of gifts I’ve recently received that I found to be especially special:
a. A child–a beautiful little girl from Ecuador for me to sponsor.
b. A year’s worth of ironing! Hey, it doesn’t cost a dime, but oh, do I ever appreciate it!
c. Homemade cookies. My husband, who is a teacher, received so many gifts of homemade cookies this year. I was delighted. That meant I didn’t have to make cookies for Christmas Eve! A double batch of cookies placed on decorative plates and done up with plastic wrap and bows will make at least half a dozen beautiful and inexpensive gifts, gifts that are truly giving of yourselves, gifts that truly portray the love of God.
The list could go on, but suffice is to say, we don’t have to sweat the Christmas gifts! All we need to do is to follow Jesus’ example and give of ourselves!
In summary, I do not believe that it is wrong for followers of Christ to celebrate Christmas. I believe that we can let the symbols of Christmas point us to the Christ Child, and with just a little effort on our part, we can not only keep Christ in our Christmas, but we can let His love shine forth through our celebration of Christmas to a lost and hungering world, thus shining forth as the true lights of Christmas!
Does this really work? All I can say is that with the tiny changes we made last year to how we celebrated Christmas, all of my family were overheard to say they truly felt Christ in our Christmas!
This is the last part of the Should Christians Celebrate Christmas series. If you have missed any of the parts and would like to have access to them, you will find them posted online by clicking here. Or you can email me and I will be happy to forward them to you. May God bless you, may He fill your home with His presence as each of us strive to make room for Him this Christmas!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two teens, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries.
(To access the entire “Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?” mini-series, please click here.)