Finding Joy in the Season

You can imagine what the lead up to the end of the year is like, because we all go through it. It doesn’t matter where we are, if you follow a Gregorian calendar, you will be running to complete all the things that you need to do before the New Year, and to add to that, In Christian countries, you have the Christmas rush, preparing for the meal, getting the gifts, attending the Christmas events. I know, we’re all on the same boat.

I read somewhere, in passing, I think it must have been on Instagram, that “Your To-Do list affects your personality”. Thinking about that over the Christmas period can make it seem like, perhaps we turn into little monsters over this period. Some of us (If you could see me, I am currently pointing at myself), make our to-do lists the whole purpose of our being in this season. We perhaps forget, not only the whole ‘reason for the season’, but also we lose ourselves a little bit in the confusion. We forget to enjoy the festivities around us, we forget the joy of giving because giving has become such a chore – fighting our way through the traffic to get gifts that we perhaps bitterly in the moment, think that the receiver won’t even like.

You might be planning for Carol services, or for Christmas Shoeboxes, or for Christmas Services, for volunteering at the local homelessness shelter, for organizing Christmas dinner for those that will go without. You might be trying to schedule in Flyering for local churches, or raising money for charities. You might be preparing cookies and mulled wine, or you might be trying to write a Christmas sermon that would be different from the 10 other Christmas Services you have written. You might be trying to desperately catch up with the last 14 days of devotionals You might be decorating your house as well as your workplace, or your church.

The more community you have, the more that Christmas can seem like a massive chore rather than something to be rejoicing in. Even the thought of doing the food shopping for Christmas dinner can cause your mood to go black. And, I totally understand that. The Christmas season has got busier and busier in the last decade I think. We have created new traditions. Pinterest has caused us to up our game in decorations and handmade cards and minimalism is the new design theory – but since when did minimalism COST SO MUCH MONEY? The Christmas season has become a month where, when someone suggests a cup of coffee or a social engagement, we say “Sounds great, but it’ll have to be after December”. It has become the month of craziness.

I just want to remind you that it doesn’t have to be like that. It’s okay to be busy, and it’s okay to try our best for our family, friends and community, but sometimes trying our best means that we buy less and spend more time with them. A 1.5 year old will ALWAYS play more with the box than the toy that came in it. Your adult children are coming home for Christmas lunch because they want to be in family, it doesn’t matter if the cranberry sauce is from Lidl, or Tesco’s own. Teenagers are difficult, I know, but instead of a new iWhatever, perhaps a game that they would appreciate playing in family, and just let them eat the chocolate, that should have you set for Christmas.

Give yourself a break, give the people around you break. Make Christmas joyful. Do the things that make you and yours happy. Perhaps you like all the bustle. Maybe you love cooking the elaborate meals. In that case, full steam ahead. But if you find any of it overwhelming, the cut down to the stuff that does give you joy.

We celebrate the season because it is the fulfilment of God’s promise to us, that he would send us a King and a Saviour. And in true sinful human fashion, we have created a consumerist monster out of it. Find the joy in your season. Try not to create situations of anxiety or create high expectations of yourself or of others around you.  Do catch up with your Tim Chester devotionals ( ;) ). Be present with those around you, If turkey is stressful, buy fish ( or those chickens that you bake in a bag from Aldi!) and sit down to a game, or a catch up.  Remember those around you who might not have any of the things that you are stressing about, and invite them to join you. I miss Scotland/Finland over Christmas season, so enjoy it for me too!

Find joy in the season.



Things that I miss about Christmas:

The Nutcracker Ballet in any new European location
The smell of cinnamon and nutmeg
Mulled wine
Snow
The Christmas Trees
A Wonderful Life at the Belmont
The Hebron Staff Christmas Party (as long as it’s not a Saturday)
Classic Christmas lights
Trees decorated lining the streets
Open Fires
Wearing Jumpers/Christmas Jumpers
Starbucks Christmas drinks and the cinnamon rolls
Christmas Chocolates
The Hebron Christmas Crafts fayre.


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