I’m sharing a snippet below from a podcast about how we can keep our Christmas traditions simple and Christ-focused:
“As the busy Christmas season is upon us we can find ourselves all wrapped up (literally wrapping too) in planning, cooking, cleaning, shopping, decorating, ministry activities and a multitude of other tasks that seem to come about during the Christmas season in addition to just the normal activities of life that we are dealing with.
I personally can lose focus and need to continue to pray to the Lord to remind me to have the heart of Mary (different Mary here) and not get caught up with the attitude of Martha in all that needs to be done. I’m a very task focused person – one of those Type A personalities and it’s how my mind works so I need to be intentional and prayerful to not miss the wonder of the Christmas season and that passage in Luke reminds me to ponder as Mary did the truth of Jesus – Immanuel – God with us an amazing truth! The God of the whole universe took on human flesh to live and walk among us as one of us so He could take our sins upon Himself and die for us – an undeserving, wretched people. We have much to ponder.”
Please come and listen with me to the rest of the podcast here.
Let me leave you with a closing thought from the podcast:
“Mama’s if there is one thing I want you to grasp this Christmas season is don’t get caught in the comparison trap. Comparison robs you of your energy and joy to love and care for your own family with a heart of joy and thanksgiving.
True Biblical contentment is not rooted in our circumstances but in God Himself.
It’s not the gingerbread houses or cookies or special meals that will have the most impact on your family. It is the attitude of your heart. It is them seeing the Gospel lived out in your day to day life – even in the midst of busy seasons. Make sure you love on them, model Christ to them, practice giving thanks in all things, take the time to just sit and chat and hug on them, pray for continued patience during this sometimes busy season and be reminded that true joy and contentment is only found in Christ. Let them see you are dependent on Jesus for all things.
Jesus is enough – always.”
Related Links:
Women’s Hope Podcast – Simple Christmas Traditions (it’s episode 41 on their iTunes site)
Simple Christmas Traditions Podcast Episode on Stitcher
14 Simple Outreach Ideas with an Eternal Focus
10 Lessons from the Life of Mary
