If you go to my house right now and open any drawer or closet, you will most likely find a mess. Some of them might be clean, but not all. I am naturally a procrastinator. I work best under pressure! Fully owning this part of my personality, I approach many areas of my life under duress. I used to approach Christmas in the same frantic manner, until I was challenged to rethink the whole season.
Because the old me would run crazy through Christmas so busy that I could barely hold my breath. I was terribly rushed through the beauty of this lovely time of year because I was a Christmas Procrastinator. My time with the Lord suffered, my relationship with my husband and kids suffered, my life was just one blurry mess and then it was over and felt depressed because I never got to “enjoy” it. Does anyone else feel that way?
Many people encourage us to simplify the holiday, but alas I cannot do that well. I just love the many traditions and lessons Jesus' birth brings with it. I am a party planner at heart so December is just one big party. So how could I save myself from running into the ground? I was encouraged to begin early and plan well. Today I am here to share that it does work and you can breathe in the midst of Christmas!
Years ago when my children were little, I heard a lesson on "Making Christmas Doable". The speaker gave us a list of ideas on how to plan out the season. Most of us sat in awe as she introduced her material with throw-up on our shirts and diaper bags filled the brim. She encouraged us to take one or two ideas from the seemingly hundreds of thoughts and implement them. Some of them even start in October! She didn't want to overwhelm us, but instead give us a target to shoot for. So I did! Here is a example of a Christmas checklist from RealSimple.com that is similar.
As I am making my to-do lists, I need to remember my priorities. First and foremost, I need to spend time thinking about everyone and everything that is important. For me, I want to spend time daily with God, work out in the morning, spend time with my husband at night and have face-to-face time with my kids. These are non-negotiables for me every day. So they can’t change during December. This is why I make a Christmas plan!
What are your priorities during the holiday season? What can’t you forget or what event can’t you miss? Plan ahead to know those things. For God is a God of order as we find in 1st Corinthians and not of confusion. He lays out his plans in Genesis and references us doing the same in Luke. So this idea is not mine, it is God’s idea for us to be thinking ahead.
Seizing the season means that you are taking back control of the things that you have control over so that God will be able to interrupt you will HIS plan! Nothing is worse then for God to have an assignment for you in the BIG PLAN and you or I don’t have time for it!
This lesson reminds me of the Princess Parables newest story, "A Royal Christmas to Remember". The girls are frantically decorating the castle, but are really missing the reason for Christmas in the first place. Only when the town and castle are captured by evil merauders do they see what they have been missing. I don't know about you, but I don't want to miss anything this Christmas!
Won't you join me! I have ordered our Christmas cards and bought a couple of presents just this week. My goal is to help you with a plan to tackle this year as best as possible. The real reason is Jesus, not the to do list. Give ourself attainable goals to insure we are ready and not just flying by the seat of our pants!
How do you "plan" for Christmas?
~Jeanna Young - When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!
