Preparing for Christmas

As I watched my kids and their cousins decorate christmas cookies yesterday, i was reminded to ENJOY the process.  about this time every year (a few days before christmas) the stress sets in and perfectionism seeps into my heart.



i begin to think about all the things we didn't do this december-- we haven't seen santa at the mall yet, we haven't driven around at night to see the lights, we haven't yet watched my FAVORITE movie, Christmas Vacation!!!!   I tend to want to pile it all in in a few weeks.  And if i don't????   I feel guilty.   I am sure every mom can relate.


So as my kids were loading red hots, M&Ms, and candy canes on their gingerbread men, I realized that no one of them were WORRIED about how it looked, they were just having fun decorating.  there was not a perfectionist nature in sight-- just joy.   in the end, it's a cookie, and that's what they were thrilled about.   it's my choice how I will choose to prepare my heart for the end result.

No matter how much i prepare or "do", Christmas will still be Christmas. 

And that's when i realized it's not about me anyway. It's all about Him.
  


I posted this on my blog last year and wanted to include it here as well.  Really as a reminder to myself, my heart seems to need this every year right before Christmas.

"Let us at all costs avoid the temptation to make our Christmas worship a withdrawal from the stress and sorrow of life into a realm of unreal beauty. It was into the real world that Christ came, into the city where there was no room for Him, and into a country where Herod, the murderer of innocents, was king.

"He comes to us, not to shield us from the harshness of the world but to give us the courage and strength to bear it; not to snatch us away by some miracle from the conflict of life, but to give us peace—His peace—in our hearts, by which we may be calmly steadfast while the conflict rages, and be able to bring to the torn world the healing that is peace."

When Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus to the Lord, Simeon said to them: "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2:34-35).

Christmas is not a retreat from reality but an advance into it alongside the Prince of Peace.

—David C. McCasland