Christmas Week

One week until Christmas.  What is your focus right now?  Is it on all the things that have to be done yet?  Are you stressed out, grouchy, overwhelmed?  Do you feel like crying, instead of being filled with joy?  If so, your focus needs to shift.  Christmas is simply about love and hope.  We are the ones who have made it about overdoing on gifts, decorating, overspending, running ourselves ragged until we are ready to explode from stress.  

Have you taken time to stop, enjoy, and breathe?  Have you enjoyed the season by walking in the snow, laughing with children, looking at Christmas lights, listening to uplifting Christmas music, watching your favorite Christmas movie, or reading Luke 2 in the Bible?  It can be difficult to focus on the real reason for this Season...Christ's birth, followed by family, and sharing love with others.  I challenge you in the next week to take time to breathe, to laugh, to stop and be still.  Take time to focus on love with those around you.  Time with loved ones is precious, don't miss the opportunity to make memories together.  

When you think back over Christmas memories, what stands out to you?  Is it the gifts you received or the way you felt because someone took time to love, to give, to invest in you? My best memories are on simple things like decorating the tree as a family while listening to Christmas music, baking cookies and making candy with my mom, sister, and my Gram when she would visit during the holidays.  Also, driving around and looking at Christmas lights on homes, and attending Christmas eve services together as a family and focusing on the real reason for Christmas, Jesus, are times that are precious to me and forever in my memory.  

Where is your focus?  Take some time to be quiet, and enjoy the peace that this season represents.  Make memories with loved ones.  Find your hope in Jesus.  

Merry Christmas!