Sane, Simple, Sacred: A "Christmas Carol" Moment

A "Christmas Carol" Moment

Seems that a lot of people are grappling with what it means to keep Christmas "sane, simple, and sacred" this year. What follows are two of my responses to peoples' blog or facebook posts this morning. Now, I'm certainly not free from struggle and error myself. But, friends, while we can get ideas from others, let's turn to Jesus for our Christmas sanity this year. Taking our cues from other people only leads to comparison, complications and discontent...

It's not easy, is it? I'm trying to get my cues from the "still, small voice" and not the "world" around me. Staying out of stores, definitely. Upping the time I spend in the Word & prayer. Listening to praise music and carols. Being with people - not to impress or entertain, but to enjoy and rejoice together. Being "sane" re. the food I bake, eat, etc. Looking for needs around me with an eye to meeting them...

Yes, there is an alternative, and I think you have identified it in your questions and veiled words. I'm thinking that every one of us has a "Christmas Carol" moment when the truth finally dawns on us--when we quit taking our cues from the "world" around us and decide what we really want this holiday to be about...

Praying that NOTHING will be artificial about Christmas in your heart and home this year.

5 comments:

Simply ShelleyNovember 30, 2011 at 10:01 AM
A beautiful post with very wise advice...."Let Christ be Christmas" in our hearts and homes...blessings
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Janettessage.blogspot.comNovember 30, 2011 at 10:07 AM
Amen...I wish that moment came earlier in our life time and for some I am sure it does...for me it seemed to come as I aged and as I faced struggles in this world...this year the struggles are still coming, some heart breaking and yet that makes this season even more special to me...He is our Hope! I am just soaking in His promises and His future coming while celebrating what He did for us...and the gift of salvation.
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Terra November 30, 2011 at 1:54 PM
I agree with you about Christ being the center of Christmas, and that is the theme of the book I co-authored with 5 other Christian gals. Our book contains plenty of Scripture of course and it is titled "A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts: Stories to Warm Your Heart and Tips to Simplify Your Holiday".
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SandyNovember 30, 2011 at 7:27 PM
Keeping our hearts and minds centered on Jesus Christ and His birth keeps this season of love in the right perspective regardless of whether we choose to decorate and shop elaborately or to do it all in simple fashion. Jesus is the reason for all celebrating.
I love that little tree.
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BeckyDecember 2, 2011 at 4:50 AM
Rebecca I want to thank you for your blog. I happened to read a blog from Donna and saw yours linked so here I am. I have been feeling sorry for myself; we were trying to buy a house and lost it at the last minute. So we, my hubby and I will be forced to stay in our small apartment for Christmas without all our Christmas stuff. After reading your blog I realized it is not about me! Its about a God who loves me and sent His son for me and that is the true reason for the season with my stuff or not! Thank you!
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"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage

Sane, Simple, Sacred

Mercy

A "Christmas Carol" Moment

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