Many of us are just recovering from Thanksgiving festivities, especially if, like me, you were the hostess this year. We wrestled a 22.5# turkey onto the BBQ, which always frees up the kitchen, and I was blessed to have my daughter and good friend, Kathy, help with the side dishes. It was a wonderful day of reflection on what’s really important in our world today: thanking God for the life and love He surrounds us with each day.
The next event on our calendar is the blessed birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This should be a time of rejoicing and reverence but often the countdown days to Christmas can send us into panic mode? A sinking feeling in your stomach. Your heart races. You want to pull the covers over your head and hope the Christmas music and jingling bells will stop.
If that’s you, it could be Christmas overload. You love Jesus but you can’t do another frenetic “Christmas season.” I remember those days well. Crying to my husband that I just couldn’t “do Christmas” again as our family continued to grow. I desperately needed his help, but his dazed look conveyed, “I don’t know what to do?”
I wanted to enjoy Christmas . . . but I had lost my joy. Can you relate?
I was assuming all the responsibility of Christmas preparations and thinking I could do everything with a family of 21 that I did with a family of two!
Where Is Your Focus?
As hard as I tried to keep my focus on Jesus, the Reason for the Season, I was focusing on:
- trying to balance the number and cost of gifts for all the kids and grandkids,
- buying perfect gifts and wrapping each one uniquely,
-
decorating the entire house, including the bathrooms,
- sending everyone I knew, and some I didn’t know, a Christmas card,
- making amazing Christmas goodies and trying new recipes,
- hosting Christmas parties,
- using all the special dishes we hadn’t seen since last Christmas!
You get the picture because you’ve been there . . . maybe you’re there now.
Looking back, I was competing with myself. Could I top the last party? Could we give the grandkids the best gifts? I worried that we weren’t giving them as many pricey gifts as the other grandparents?!
Then it all came to a screeching halt the year I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After surgery, radiation started December 17, two days before our 10th wedding anniversary. Oh yes, did I forget to mention I also planned our wedding on December 19! It seemed like a great idea the first few years, but then an anniversary getaway or celebration in the middle of Christmas preparations added another activity to my already overbooked, overloaded schedule.
The unexpected breast cancer diagnosis coincided with a kitchen and living room remodel and all the family coming home for Christmas. We had no kitchen counters or sink because they cut the counter tops wrong. The dishwasher was still in its box in the middle of the kitchen!
That year changed everything and actually brought sanity to our Christmas.
Following are some changes I made that “radiation Christmas” which might help you too. They all center on lowering your expectations and focusing on the Baby born in a manager. Don’t think you have to do all of them. Pick a few that will give you more time with Jesus who helps us reduce Christmas stress and burnout and is the embodiment of the “perfect Christmas.”
My Top 10 Ways to Avoid Christmas Burnout!
1. Let your calendar be your activity guide. First, schedule normal activities: work, school, exercise, sleep, church—and most importantly—daily quiet time with the Lord. Next, note events like children’s programs, rehearsals, family/work/church gatherings. Then, schedule time for shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating.
As new invitations arrive, decline kindly any occurring at the same time as those already scheduled on your calendar. Limit your holiday outings to one night a week and two extra events each weekend.
2. If you have children or grandkids, let them decorate the tree. Children do a great job and they’ll be so proud, especially if they have some handmade ornaments on the tree and you haven’t rearranged their decorating.
3. Reduce your shopping list. Gift giving can become a financial and time burden if your lists have grown over the years. Decide on a dollar amount that fits your budget and divide that among the people on your list.
Suggest to extended family that you only buy gifts for the children. If you and a neighbor or friend have exchanged gifts in the past, create a new tradition like getting together in the New Year for personal time over coffee or lunch instead of a gift.
4. Limit Christmas cards. I love receiving Christmas cards, but noticed many with just a signature or an embossed signature. Nice to be remembered but not personal. As the price of stamps increased and time and energy decreased, I stopped sending Christmas cards. An alternative is to send a short Christmas letter or family picture by email and stay in touch all year.
5. Make parties "potluck." It’s always fun to try other people’s cooking and discover their favorite Christmas dishes. Use decorative paper and plastic dishes, cups, and silverware. Cleanup is super easy. You can focus on your guests instead of washing the dishes piling up in the sink or worrying about a favorite plate getting chipped or broken.
7. Curtail the baking frenzy. Pick a couple of family favorites and include the family in a baking night or afternoon . . . or not. If you enjoy baking, schedule it on the calendar. But if there isn’t time, give yourself permission to put your feet up instead and enjoy a cup of Christmas tea or latte with store-bought treats.
8. Rotate Christmas decorations. I love to decorate the house and string lights. But I don’t feel like I have to bring out every box of decorations every year. When you haven’t seen them for a few years, it’s like they’re new. I still receive compliments that our house looks Christmasy, warm, and cozy.
9. Recruit a gift wrapper. Since we now live an hour from town and shopping, we order many gifts online. I say “we” because I include hubby in the shopping. We also wrap presents together. After all, they’re for “our” family, and he’s actually a better wrapper than I am. Watch a Christmas movie and make it a date night or afternoon.
Or have a wrapping party with a couple of friends. Two are definitely better than one! When you reduce gift buying, there are less presents to wrap!
10. Spend more time with Jesus. Start everyday reading a part of the Christmas story from the Gospels or a Christmas devotional. If you read one chapter daily in Luke starting December 1st, there are 24 chapters so you'll read the complete earthly life of Jesus and His ascension leading up to Christmas Day. It helps to focus the day’s activities around the ONLY reason we celebrate Christmas. It reminds us that Jesus doesn’t want us stressed or in a frenzy. He came into the world for one reason, to offer those who believe in Him eternal life. Not to add a burden to our life but to lighten our load: “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Wish everyone you meet in person or on the phone a “Merry Christmas.” You won’t burnout or feel overwhelmed when you share with others the joy of our Savior’s birth.
Hope this helps and I would love to hear how you stay sane and Spirit-filled during the Christmas Season.
About His Work with You,
Janet
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