I hope you’ve had a year that was full of contentment, productivity, and times where you knew that God’s grace was upon you. I pray that you will be determined and purposeful to find time to sit with God’s word in your lap and soak in the details of the very first Christmas. Because this time of year can become too chaotic to be calm and contemplative, I have a few quick suggestions that might help curb the chaos.
Christmas is a season, not a day!
If your family follows the traditional Christmas calendar, then the Christmas season started on the last Sunday of November with the beginning of Advent and won’t end until January 6th. That is plenty of time to fit in the decorating, hosting, baking, wrapping, and celebrating; if it’s not then you have too many tasks on your list. Once you embrace Christmas as a season, then those sugar cookies you bake every year…you know the ones, they require refrigeration before you can roll them out, then they need to be baked, then cooled, then iced…consider baking them as a special treat for New Year’s Eve or on one of the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25th– January 5th). You may need to think outside the box, it may mean bending some long-standing traditions, but it will help relieve some pressure.
Make Lists
If you are not a list maker, then this is a perfect time of year to sit down with pen and paper and get yourself organized. List making is a sure way to add calmness to Christmas and it is the simplest way to help you get organized. Lists help you re-evaluate; there may be items on your list that you simply must let go of. Lists also help to get the clutter out of your mind and onto paper. Invest time today in figuring out what you are making for Christmas dinner, the list of ingredients you need for those sugar cookies, and what gifts still need to be bought! This time investment will pay off!
Never accept invitations on the spot.
Always answer with, “I’ll check my calendar and get back to you”. And did you know that you can decline an invitation even if your day is free? Yes, it’s true! I encourage you to look at your calendar and evaluate your week, not just the day. You can gracefully decline without giving a reason and simply offer another time that works better for you and your family.
I enjoy the Christmas season and like to participate in all the things: gift-giving, decorating, baking, hosting, crafting, and other activities. Over the years, I’ve learned how to gracefully decline invitations, how to be more organized, and how to set a calm pace. I hope you’ve been able to glean even just a little something.
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by Adrianne Curwen
Adrianne is a wife to a public-school educator/administrator and a homeschooling Mama to seven children, ranging in age from 8 to 24 and in 2021 the family added son-in-law to the bunch. She believes that we have a unique opportunity as homeschoolers to design individualized education that suits giftings, interests, and passions. She and her husband have used a blend of registered homeschooling, enrolment with independent DL schools, and participation in public trade school programs to design individualized programs for their children. She is passionate about using as many read-alouds, picture books, novels, and conversations to educate her children but also gets excited by the amazing homeschool-designed curriculum that’s out there. Adrianne is thrilled by her new role as Communication Specialist for Classical Education Books and is grateful to have an opportunity to learn something new. She is grateful, every day, for her saviour, Jesus Christ, and has no greater joy than when she sees her most important missions field walk with Him.
