Snatching Gifts AWAY from Jesus

Christmas stress. You know what I'm talking about! So much to do, places to go, things to see, presents to buy, traveling to plan, families are family, children are children and mothers are going CRAZY! 

I just had such a crazy day. My house was a disaster, the babysitter was coming to watch the kids (so of course that means I need to clean it!) so my hubbie and I could go out on a romantic date. A woman from our church was coming in a couple of hours to help me decorate the church for Christmas. And a computer repairman was coming to fix the church computer which had recently blown it's motherboard. Oh and the romantic date with my hubbie?? SOOOO not figured out! We had NO CLUE what we were going to do because honestly, we had no time to even talk about it! Do you get the picture of my crazy day? Oh wait, I forgot to tell you about ME! 

I was an upset, stressed, unshowered, short-tempered (okay - short temper SOOO gone!) MESS. AND my hubbie was playing a hockey game on the computer. ahem. It was suddenly all HIS fault. I huffed off to my children's bedrooms to start cleaning the chaos that was currently reigning. That's when I saw her. A mother quite like myself who had gotten tangled up in the things that HAD to happen for Christmas. 


All of the things, even the things with the good intentions (like the Birthday Gifts for Jesus ideas on this blog!) can so easily become a distraction and KILL the CHRISTlike spirit that is so necessary for a successful CHRISTmas. 

Is stress and activity overload snatching your joy and commitment to your Savior this holiday season? In a sense, by submitting to a stressful Christmas, you are snatching Birthday Gifts AWAY from Jesus. So take a few minutes and do some soul searching and make sure your heart is in the right place as a special Birthday Gift for Jesus. Maybe meditate on this verse as you contemplate the real reason for the season. 

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him."
(1 John 4:9 ESV)


In HIS Grip, 
               
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2 comments:

  1. I can so relate to this... Thank you for the timely reminder! Hope things get better for you :)

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  2. Oh yes, things are much better! It takes just little things like that to give you a little "check" to see if things are as they should be and to fix the issues as they come :0)

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