I find myself standing somewhat aloof from Christmas festivities this year.
Wait, no. Not festivities. Just effort. For instance:
We generally do an advent calendar full of activities: Crafts! Lights! Songs! Every year, I make a concerted effort to involve the kids, start an activity each day, light a candle, say a prayer.
This year, the kids aren’t asking for it, and I decided, meh.
There was a service opportunity today: lots of people, a great cause, a whole-family opportunity to serve. Come this morning, I didn’t have the emotional energy for it.
I planned on taking the kids to a Christmas performance of some kind. This week, I decided I wouldn’t bother finding tickets.
It’s not like I usually run myself ragged at Christmas and this year I’m taking a pass. In years past, with small kids, I’ve decided to let go of many traditions until I had the time or energy or help to do them. But this year, I can’t even muster the interest for stuff I would usually jump at. It’s not like we’re busy or even particularly harried from preparations.
Though now it seems glaringly obvious, I couldn’t figure out why I kept opting out until this morning.
I’m opting out because I’m gathering all my energy for a gnarly voyage. I don’t have leftovers for anything else.
Even before we leave, I feel like the decision to go has radically transformed me and my family. It’s made me more open to change. It has challenged to dust off my language skills and start making friends cross-culturally at home (thank you, Jesus, for those friends). It has challenged our family to simplify and look hard at our values.
That is the gift I’m opening this Christmas: a changed life. That’s enough.
We board a plane January 8th. Pray for us, won’t you?
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For very different reasons, I haven’t been into decorating this year. We have done Christmas activities, even made ornaments for the first time, but I have not put up all my decorations. And I love my different Nativity sets. It finally hit me why last night after talking it over w/my husband. Anyway, I think it’s completely natural that you aren’t as into Xmas activities this year.
It’s lovely to give ourselves the freedom to do things differently and really see what is working, isn’t it? May we all experience the fredom to create a holiday that works for us and nourishes us.
There is a large majority of Playgroup friends in the same boat, myself included. By the second week of December I was already burnt out by Christmas music. Putting out Christmas decorations before Halloween at retails store inevitably numbs us to the real magic of Christmas…how do we reclaim it?
I found a big sense of relief from Melissa’s post here: http://melissacamarawilkins.com/blog/2012/12/21/is-it-too-late-for-christmas-crafts/. I want to think more about what does give me joy every Christmas and do more of that, letting go of the things that don’t reach my heart. It’s hard, though, to reevaluate traditions and decide I don’t need them when they are, well, traditions. Let’s reclaim it, though, Lisa!