Why does the Christmas season have to be so stressful? It seems like every year I (Tami) tell myself, “Stop stressing out over it and just start enjoying Christmas more.” I really do love the Christmas season. I love it so much that I begin playing Christmas music on Halloween night and I almost cry when I have to turn off the music after December 25th. The music of the season is magical to me and brings to mind so many wonderful memories and a lot of joy. It’s not only the music that I love, also I love that we have an entire season where we reflect on Christ –as He is the reason why we get to have this glorious month of Christmas bliss. Well ok, maybe bliss is an overstatement. Aside from the music, there are many other holiday traditions that seem to add both joy and stress to the season; such as the giving of gifts.
The word “gift” seems like such a wonderful word until it is placed in the context of crazy people at the mall who are dead set on getting the closest parking place, bowling people over as they scramble for the best deals, and joking for the fastest check out lane with blatant disregard for things like common courtesy and personal space. Not to mention getting in and out of your car one hundred times on cold, windy, rainy, nasty days that make your skin feel like you’re being repeatedly shot by porcupine quills. And unfortunately “gift” giving is never just about finding and giving “a” gift. I always find that there is an ever expanding list of our children’s needs and wants. There are many needs on my children’s lists which seem great a first. I would much rather shop for things they need and will use for a long time than shop for some passing fad, trivial toy that will be broken in a day or two or set aside as outdated within a month. But I feel caught; I have put off buying toward these needs earlier in the year partly because we don’t have the money, and partly because we don’t have the time to shop for things.
And beyond the needs are always the wants. And wants are a normal part of being a kid at Christmas. The challenge is that every child puts on their list numerous things that are WAY too expensive to even be given a second thought, but we do. We think about it a lot. We agonize over how much is too much, because we were all children once. We know understand the excitement of having a wish come true under the tree. And finally, if you have more than one child, as we do, you likely know the torture of trying to make everything look “fair.” There are no favorite children in our home and we really don’t want the gifts under the tree to look like it!
So, I confess, December has become a battle between, “the most wonderful time of the year” and “Bah humbug!” It is a terrible tug-of-war that I tell myself I’m not getting into every year, but I end up feeling pulled apart year after year.
I hate that it’s true that Christmas can be both magical and stressful. Above all, we are working hard to make certain that our children are being taught the real meaning of Christmas. In the end we are trusting God to guide us as we balance giving the right kinds of gifts (and the right amount of gifts) to the kids; gifts that will bless them and illustrate just how special they are to us.
I’m sure the challenge will be there every year; the challenge to slow down and be intentional about spending time together in ways that matter and make Christmas memories that will last a lifetime. And though the season is stressful and there is much to do, there is a choice to make as to what our minds will dwell on. If you look for it you’ll find Christmas “magic” in simple and even unlikely places. For me today, it was turning my ordinary kid taxi driving into a quest to find the best lit house. What about you? What magic will you see, what memory can you make? Go ahead and play the Christmas music a little louder? Have a candy cane hunt with the kids. Pull over at some stranger’s outdoor nativity and read Luke 2 from your phone’s bible app. It doesn’t take much but do it. Don’t let all the Bah Humbug over take this most wonderful time of the year!
~ Isaiah 9:6 ~