It sure is in the stores anyway. Christmas merchandise is appearing around Halloween now.
How can we make the Christmas Season more of what it should be!
With our culture comes the time of Christmas craziness. Why is it so difficult to focus on what is really important!? (Well, I think the crazy business of everyone’s life is one main thing.)
Here are a few practical ideas I would like to share to help make the most of the rest of 2010.
Some things you can do around your house to focus on Jesus:
- Set up nativity sets but don’t put in the baby Jesus until Christmas morning. If you have kids, this is a great illustration. Now that I started this, I look for affordable nativity sets to add to our small collection.
- Put us a second “Jesus Tree.” Now, this doesn’t have to be a lot of work. This could be a small tabletop fake tree or a sheet of paper taped to the wall with a picture of a tree drawn on it. (We use our old fake Christmas tree for this and put it in our family room.) What you do is make (very simply) ornaments to put on the tree during the 25 days of advent to remind us that this season is all about Jesus. I make the ornaments with my kids. Examples of ornaments –which can be drawn on paper and cut-out or can be as elaborate as you want: star, angel, apple, lamb, Shepherd’s staff, crown, dove, cross, heart, lightning bolt, key, bar of soap, stone tablets, Trefoil, manger, candle, vine with branches, fish, adoption papers, etc. You get the idea. Our Jesus Tree has been a great conversation starter for those visiting our home during the holiday season.
Some things you can do away from your home to focus on giving:
- Secretly “adopt” another family. I am sorry to say, this is not my idea. I know a few people from the church who do this. One of them drops off nice treats at the front door during the month of December for a family. (Again, you can be as creative as you want.) I know one family who just chooses someone they think will be fun and another one who picks a less fortunate family.
- If money is an issue (and who is it not an issue for?!) you can give a bit to time to someone who is elderly or shut-in during the month of December. If you don’t know anyone like that, I can share some names from the church.
Something you can do personally: Ask God to help you focus on what He is focusing on. (What does the Father want you to think about and do this season?)
Well, these are all just ideas to get your creative juices flowing. I would encourage you to not just do one of these, but to pray and ask God what He would have you to do during this season!
Blessings,
Thora
