How We’re Learning
By Kori Yates
I could tell you all about crazy. I could remind you how busy the Christmas season is. I could tell you the importance of each moment and memory through the entire season. I could remind you of the testimony you give by serving and loving through this season – being Jesus to others.
I could tell you a million things, but truth is you probably already know them.
I know I do. I read blog posts and books, have conversations with others and myself about all the things. Today, though, I’m going to get to the bottom of it all. Today, I will remind myself, and you because you’re here, about how we as a family worship and focus on Christ through the season of Christmas.
For me, it’s much like the rest of the year, except more. It’s opportunities to bake for parties, fellowship with friends, help with Christmas programs, and give special gifts to others. It’s all of these things plus work, school, sports, laundry, housecleaning, and dinner. All are good things, and some of them necessary things. But for our family to worship and focus on Christ during the season of Christmas, we have to remember what God has asked of us the rest of the year – obedience.
The Christmas season can get busy and crazy. If it does, though, it is because we choose for it to be so. Each step, each decision is one we choose to make. To worship and focus on Christ during this season, we as a family have to choose to do so. We have to say yes to a quiet time with the Lord and no to going out to purchase one more present. We have to say yes to an evening spent with our family and no to another get-together.
As we have taught financial classes over the years, we have talked a lot about “opportunity cost,” meaning, in financial terms, if we choose to spend our money in one place we cannot spend it in another. We are choosing to say yes to one thing and no to something else. Our time is just like that. Everything we say yes to is saying no to something else. We have to choose.
As a “perpetual hand raiser,” I tend to volunteer to do a lot, to say yes more times than not. The Christmas season amplifies that for me. There are so many opportunities to do special things and spend time with people. I can get so caught up in the “special” and people that I don’t have time for Jesus or even my own family. To combat this, I do a few things.
How to Worship Christ During Busyness:
- Make my personal time with Jesus a priority – if I skip this, everything else gets out of whack.
- Take 24 hours – I take at least 24 hours to ponder before I say yes to things from parties/get-togethers to an extra service opportunity.
- Get accountability – this is truly the gift of my hubby. He holds my hand down ????. Truthfully, he gives me perspective and is usually the first to notice when crazy has hit our house.
- Determine priorities – just like the rest of the year I have to decide ahead of time what is most important and then stick to it.
It is a beautiful season of Jesus, family, and friendship. It is special events and magical moments. It is one of my favorite seasons and truthfully one of our busiest, but busy and crazy are not necessarily the same thing. It’s not a sin to do some extra things, but if those things start to rule my life instead of being part of a life to glorify Christ then I am doing something wrong. The Lord truly is our PRINCE of PEACE. Ask His advice and trust His judgement. May you and your family have a blessed and Christ-honoring Christmas.
Verse to Consider:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
