Reclaiming Christmas Peace

Perhaps some extra time in prayer, could help us reclaim our peace during this busy season.

As I continue to focus on peace this week, during Advent, I am reminded how hectic this time of year can get. At times, during the Christmas season, it seems that peace couldn’t be any further away. Some of the things that keep us overwhelmed are social commitments like parties that we feel obligated to go to. Some of the things are our children’ s plays and concerts.

But, often times, we create our own chaos in our quest for the perfect Christmas. We tell ourselves that we need to do all of the baking ourselves and address and mail a hundred Christmas cards and buy teacher’s gifts and gifts for family and friends and decorate every nook and cranny of our homes, and, and, and… We run ourselves ragged trying to create the Norman Rockwell painting and often in the end, we feel like we missed the real meaning of Christmas. We certainly have missed out on any celebration or appreciation of peace. By Christmas Day, we can feel completely frazzled and wrecked.

Some of these things can’t be changed. We simply need to go. But, others could be scaled back. Does any home really need more than one Christmas tree? Don’t get me wrong, if you delight in a tree with a different theme in every room, by all means decorate away, but if all of the decorating, leaves you stressed and overwhelmed, scaling back is an option. If all of the baking leaves you overwhelmed, most grocery stores have a bakery. Don’t be embarrassed or afraid to use it. Remember, we are on a quest for peace.

As far as the shopping goes, I find that many things can be purchased online, eliminating all of the driving around and waiting in lines and traffic. Here again, if the hustle and bustle, feeds your Christmas spirit, then shop away. But, if it causes stress, then the Internet is your friend and so are gift cards.

The point is, this is such and important and special time of the year. We are supposed to be preparing our hearts for the arrival of our savior. If we are stressed out and overwhelmed the entire season, who do you think wins? We should seriously, give that concept some thought.

Jesus came to earth to change us forever. He offers us peace and the only true perfection, comes from him. We can intentionally choose to say “no,” to many of the things that steal our precious peace during this beautiful season. We can scale back on some things. We can ask for help on others.

We can wake a little earlier each morning and spend some extra time in prayer. We can sit in the quiet and ask God to show us where we are losing our peace and ask Him to show us how to get it back. Perhaps Advent is a great time to start actively spending a little more time with God and to actively seek more peace for ourselves.

We may find that one leads to the other.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂