Planning for a point this year ...

A few years ago, I found myself Christmas shopping, wrapping presents and sending out Christmas cards right up until Christmas Eve. Then of course there was the cooking. We had stayed home that year and I was hosting Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas brunch. So even on Christmas Eve, I was up cleaning dishes and getting brunch prepped. Oh by the way, I had a 6 week old – so you're getting the picture here, right? Fa la la la la – t'was not the season to be jolly. In my busyness the one guest who had not been invited to our celebration was Christ. There was no room in my inn that year for Him, frankly I was just trying to stay on my feet and survive. When the gifts had been opened, the dishes cleaned up and the tree thrown out, I was left feeling empty and wondering what exactly was the point of all that craziness!

I vowed that that would be the last Christmas season spent on the work. I know Christmas cards have to be sent. My kids do have some gift expectations and I love to see decorations put up. But I had to take a serious look at what really needed to get done and what I could let go of. The first thing to go was the piles of gifts. Did you know the average American family spends $800 on Christmas every year? That's nuts. Over the last couple of years, Pete and I have significantly cut back on our giving. The girls each get three gifts from us. We agreed with cousins, aunts and uncles that non of us needed anything, so instead we give a charitable donations instead. We have cut our gift list back by about 75%, it has made a huge difference in the time we spend shopping, wrapping and waiting in line at the post office.

With our shopping cut back, the second, and maybe larger, change I made, was my planning. I realized that you can't have a Christ-filled Christmas if you don't do a lot of preplanning. That planning can't start in December; it has to start in November. Last year I started setting a deadline of when the work of Christmas will be done. Last year it was the 12^tt of December, I think I actually finished by the 14^th. This year my goal is December 1^st. By then the shopping, wrapping, and Christmas cards will be done. So then what happens you ask? Well, then we actually celebrate Christmas. Novel idea huh? Our family will go ice skating, see concerts and do advent devotions. With work not crowding our December, there will be room for Christ to be invited in to our home, our hearts and our celebration this Christmas, so come January we won't be asking, what was the point of it all!