Six Simple Steps to a Purpose-Filled Christmas

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. The lights. The songs. The hot cocoa. Family. Friends. Activities. More activities. It can zoom by so fast that we are left spinning and wondering if we enjoyed the season at all.

Years ago, I felt a huge priority was to bake special Christmas treats for all my friends. I’d be up until late into the evening preparing, baking, and packaging goodies like I was on a mission from Santa. Then, I’d ask my husband to drive me all over to drop off said sugary delights to all my friends. For some reason I got it in my head that this personal “tradition” was a must for every Christmas. The problem was it left me tired, stressed, and dreading the next year.

Then, one day in the midst of the holiday season, I heard a friend say this…

“You know we get so many baked goods at Christmas we can’t eat them all. I mean, what are we supposed to do with all these cookies and cakes? We just can’t eat them all.”

And yes, you guessed it…

I had brought her some of my special yummies.

This caused me to reevaluate what I was doing during the Christmas season. Was it really necessary to bake for everyone I knew? What was I trying to prove? I’d like to say this was the only thing I felt like I had to do during the holiday season but there was a list of other things which I felt like I just couldn’t miss or not do.

Instead of spending time with and enjoying my family I was running around like a maniac trying to do everything and please everyone.

This caused me to stop, question, and take action. I decided to change up the way I approached Christmas.

Six Simple Steps to a Purpose-Filled Christmas

1. Priorities. I sat down with my husband and my kids and together decided what were the most important things we wanted to do during the Christmas season. Then, we calendared the most important. During Thanksgiving my son and his family came into town for the week. Before they arrived, we all had a family meeting and decided what were the things we all wanted to do most, and we set dates and times. Purpose means we mark times for what’s important.

• Don’t compare. During the Christmas season we can all get caught up in what everyone else is doing. We get the Christmas letters and see all the family pictures of others. We see a family on a boat, and wish we had a boat, forgetting the last time we were on a boat we got seasick. As soon as we begin to compare what we have to what others have we can begin to lose the joy in our blessings.

• Question your thinking. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it says, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Ask yourself if what you are telling yourself is true. Will our friends really not like us if we don’t deliver Christmas treats before December 25^th? Do we really need to go to every event we are invited to? Are we less than others if we don’t paint a wall red and have reindeer in our front yard like our neighbor? Question expectations and ask yourself if it’s true.    

• Make time for you. Once I began reevaluating what was most important to me I found myself enjoying Christmas so much more. One year the week before Christmas I found myself in a Target sitting and sipping coffee at a Starbucks and enjoying all the hustle and bustle around me. I scheduled a little me time and it was delightful.

• Practice gratefulness. Being strategic about being thankful for all we have will fill our hearts with joy. When our heart is full of thankfulness and gratitude there’s no room for anything else. “Always giving thanks for God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

• Make time for God. Connecting with God at the time of year we are celebrating the birth of Jesus sets the tone for not only the season but for the rest of the year. 

Need a gift for the season? Check out books by Lucille Williams: Know someone who’s getting married? From Me to We would make the perfect gift. Want to give someone some fun laughs and a boost in their intimacy department? The Intimacy You Crave is a fun gift. Know a mom who could use some encouragement? Order a copy of The Impossible Kid.