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Too Stressed to Deck the Halls?

Tis the season to be stressed,
Fa la la la la, la la la la…

Tis the season to be stressed,
Fa la la la la, la la la la…

Family. Baking. Gifts. Decorations. Songs. Vacation. Travel. Wrapping. Figgy Pudding. What is this season about? We so often forget.

Here’s three things to stress that can keep you from stressing out:

  1. Love. Christmas is really about loving each other. It’s not about finding the right presents to show that love. It’s just about actually loving. We know that, but somehow we got lost in the hustle. Unfortunately, the love gets lost too often as well. We end up yelling and fighting with the very people we need to be loving. So, make the gift of love your biggest priority this season.
  2. Giving. John 3:16 gets thrown around and all sorts of random times (football games and the like), but Christmas is a great time to meditate on this verse. God gave us his son, his very best, his own flesh. We didn’t deserve it nor did we earn it. This should be a model for our own giving.
  3. Sacrifice. Knowing that His son would die a painful death for our sins, He sent him anyway. I know it’s not Easter, but take a minute to think through how this baby Jesus grows and lives and dies. Such a sacrificial gift from the very beginning. During this season of giving, we too should be sacrificing for others. It could mean sacrificing our time, our labor, or our money. There are so many people who are lonely, hurting, and need help. Look to your left, look to your right, there’s someone in need.


So, let’s take a cue from God and lovingly give our very best to those who don’t deserve it. It’s not the season to feel hard pressed and totally stressed, but it is the season to make ourselves smaller and God bigger. Take a look around, find someone who needs something big or small, then help out. At the very least, tell someone who needs to hear it that you love them. Gifts don't have to be big and perfect—God is. Now, that takes some stress off, huh? Fa la la la la, la la la la!
 

Jamie Lath is a middle child that has no baby picture without her older sister in it. Even with only two siblings, she grew up with family everywhere because all her aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and even second-cousins lived in her hometown. With forty people at her birthday parties (all relatives) and her sister in every picture, she knows a little about community, and it's everlastingness. This has brought most of her ministry focus into meeting people where they're at, listening closely (especially to those who feel voiceless and like no one is listening), and helping them find God's voice in the mix. Jamie graduated with a BA in Communication Studies from the University of North Texas. Following a year of teaching English in China, she returned to the states to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. She received a Th.M. with a focus on Media Arts. Her background in the arts (ballet, writing, and acting) has given her an understanding of how creative expressions can give people a safe place to begin exploring how to use their voice and how it can touch hearts to hear God’s voice. She also blogs at I just called to say "Olive Juice."

2 Comments

  • Pat Gloria

    You’re right on target with

    You're right on target with your advice . I recite the same type of mantra to myself over and over throughout the Christmas season in an effort to not go absolutely crazy stressing about giving my loved ones enough for Christmas. Sometimes I just want to shout at the top of my voice its not about the presents its about celebrating Christs birth! Enough already! Actually I think maybe I have!

     At the end of the day though my wife and I always wind up following everyone to the malls and department stores in search of the perfect Christmas. You know the one where your kids wake up to the gajillion presents to open your wife/husband has been properly floored with your thoughtfullness and extravagence. You know just like in every Christmas themed movie and all the commercials we are bombarded with this time of the year. Whether we can afford it or not! Therin lies the problem I have with the gifting season.

    Even though I would like to just say hey y'all were not going all out on presents this year, instead, we're concentrating on the true reason for Christmas – celebrating Jesus Christ's birthday I am overwhelmed with the need to provide a bountiful materialistic holiday for my kids. I know that regardless of how spiritual I might feel they will still be faced with the age old question from their freinds and relatives" what did you get for Christmas this year?" .

     I lived through some pretty meager Christmases where I would have to either admitt that I really did just get some undies and a shirt or pants or pretend I received more than I actually had received. " Just some clothes and stuff became an answer I could give without outright telling a lie. I have always refused to have my family go through that embarassment. I know its not the right attitude or motive for gifting but there you have it. This is the source of much stress that plagues and ruins the Christmas season for many of us its hard to say we're not concentrating on presents this year if you have to face the disappointment of your children and loved ones.

    This year for Thanksgiving we through our church orchestrated and served a meal for the underpriveledged on Thanksgiving day! We were truly blessed! This was the first Thanksgiving in many years that actually held meaning for me personally. I looked forward to the day and enjoyed myself more than ever before because I was able to get out of myself for a change. We served and concentrated on being of service to others rather than worrying about ourselves…… Anyway, This proves to me that your advice will work.

    Would I be considered an unreasonable scrooge if I suggested that maybe just once all who professed to be christians could agree that we would boycott the commercialism of gifting to each other and concentrate on doing something Christ like for someone else instead. I know that the custom for gifting came when the three wise men presented gifts to the baby Jesus upon His birth so rather than trying to keep up with each other or worse, play one-up-man-ship with presents to our loved ones ( whether we can afford it or not), we give a monetary gift to our chuch above and beyond the normal offerings and tithes so that the local churches can do God's work in a bigger and greater way right here in our own communities?  

    • Jamie Lath

      Giving it away

      What a thought provoking post! You've struck on something important here. We do get so caught up in so many things that have nothign to do with Christmas. However, once we've seen the light, it's hard to shine it in other people's eyes. Most of the time, we just blind others rather than help.

      I think it's a great idea to stop getting caught up in the shopping craze, yet we can't just not get other people gifts, especially if their not on the same page we are. The best way may be to do just what you are suggesting and set an example with what we request for ourselves. When people ask us what we want, what a great idea to say that we want them to donate the money to the local church or a charity. I know some organizations that will even tell you that with X amount of money, you can help buy someone goats or fresh water or seeds or  school supplies in another country. When people ask what you got for Christmas, you can proudly share how you helped buy chickens for someone in Cambodia.

      Hopefully, such gifts could inspire a whole new way of thinking about Christmas. Until then, well, we may be off to malls for our loved ones (because until they can see it same way, chickens for someone in Cambodia may hinder them from understanding the true meaning of Christmas). Even so, we can pray, inspire others, and share Jesus through the gifts we ask others to give–or rather, not give–to us. 🙂