Merry Christmas! • Laugh

Merry (almost) Christmas!

Book • Quote

Type • Quote

Darkest Night • Quote

Christmas is All in the Heart • Advice

This is in response to a post I read on tumblr about the difficulties [insert adjective here] people face during the holidays.

Let me start by saying, I have had similar experiences - A LOT - so I'm just going to share what works for me.

Lower Your Expectations

The holiday season is not going to live up to your ideals.  So throw them on the yule log and watch them burn.  Those pop songs about finding love at the holidays that get stuck in your head are detrimental to your survival.  Turn off Britney's "My Only Wish" and have a dance party/karaoke session to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." {female empowerment, yay!}

Those made for TV movies that summarily resolve every challenge the main character has faced for her entire life AND she ends up basically engaged to the dreamiest man on the planet in 90 minutes or less.  Total crap.  I love crappy Christmas movies.  They are a super duper fun escape from reality.  But, they are crap.  Lower your expectations.

And be realistic.  Advertisements are trying to sell you a desired [and unrealistic] experience that requires their product to create.  It's total crap.  Use what you've got.  Be creative and you'll appreciate it all the more because you will have (1) not spent money on useless crap and (2) gained a sense of accomplishment.  If you fail, you've learned something, even if it's what not to do next time.

Prioritize

Figure out what you want this Christmas and learn how to ask for it.  And I'm not talking about presents.  I'm talking about experiences you want to share with the people you care about.  Traditions you want to continue.  And traditions you want to pretend never existed.

I love sitting in front of the fire with my mom, sipping on peppermint cocoa, eating popcorn, and watching a CLASSIC Christmas movie like "It's a Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street," or "Bundle of Joy."  And if we want to do that again this year we have to make a plan, set a date, and commit to it.  Or else it won't happen because the holidays are so busy that it'll be January before we realize it's gone.  Prioritize.

Give Thanks

Take inventory of your life and be thankful for the goodness in it.  Family.  Friends.  Hobbies you enjoy.  Places you love to be.  You have good in your life, it's just hard to see when you're looking at what you lack.  Focus on what you have and be thankful for it.

I love to write thank you notes before Christmas.  It's a given, as a well-bred young woman, that I will send a (most of the time) prompt thank you note after I have received a gift.  But, I enjoy surprising those I'm closest to with a note thanking them for what I truly appreciate in our relationship.  Yes, gifts are nice and I won't refuse them, ever!  However, thanking someone for the intangibles they give me daily is often overlooked, so I like to recognize those little things that mean the world to me.

Live in the Moment

Take every opportunity to be happy.  Unless you have a legitimate reason* for declining, say YES!  When you're invited to a party, GO!  When your mom wants to take you shopping, GO! (and pay for lunch!) When your friends are going to go watch a parade in downtown Minneapolis and it's freezing because the wind chill is below zero, but you don't own a decent coat and you're intimidated by large cities, but no one else has a car so you'll have to drive for the first time in snow, (True Story!) GO!  Memories are made of this.  The best experiences seem to always be unexpected.

*Legitimate Reasons include, but are not limited to, the activity is dangerous, immoral, illegal, irresponsible, and or stupid.  

If All Else Fails, FAKE It Until You MAKE It

I often feel, especially this time of year, alone and misunderstood.  And I don't want to go out and socialize.  I just want to sit in my bedroom and be alone.  Content in my misery.  In that scenario, I always regret it.  Now, it's a different story if I've been hassled at work ALL day and just need some "me" time.  But, when I'm choosing to be unhappy, that's on me and I always regret it.

Fake it until you make it.  Pretend to be happy and you might find yourself enjoying whatever seemingly ridiculous activity you've agreed to participate in.  You have something to offer.  Now get out of your own way and show the world.  Shine!

In the End, It's Not About You Anyway

Christmas is about celebrating Jesus' birth.  It's about family and friends and sharing love.  It can be about giving gifts, eating cookies, and decorating trees if you want.  It's up to you.  You can take whatever comes along with a good attitude and make the best of it.  Or you can hide in a burrow like a groundhog until February.  You choose what your Christmas will be this year.

I hope that helps.

- Charity

Believe • Devotional

This is the transcript for the devotional I gave at my church's Women of Grace Christmas Brunch this morning.  

Good Morning!  Thank you all for coming! 

A special thank you to Carol and Peggy for hosting and organizing this event!  

Carol and Peggy asked me to share a devotional thought this morning - a brief devotional thought - regarding today’s theme “believe.” 

So the first thing I did was look up the word “believe” in the dictionary and the definition it gave was “to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something.” 

I thought about breaking down each word in the definition but just the thought of that made me sleepy.  Despite my drowsiness, two words in the definition stood out to me: “confidence” and “truth.”  But, what do those words really mean and how do I communicate that in a meaningful and applicable way?  

Well, I hope the TRUE stories I am about to share will illuminate exactly what it means to believe.  

The first story is one told by D L Moody.  He tells of an experience he had with a friend:  

Moody stood with his friend at the garden gate, discussing what it meant to “believe” when two boys walked down the sidewalk toward them.  

In the midst of their conversation, his friend said to Moody. "Watch this." 

The man placed one of the boys on the fence rail. He stepped back, stretched his arms out, and said "jump!" 

Without hesitation, the boy gleefully jumped into the man’s arms. 

Moody's friend then picked up the other boy and repeated the same gesture and command, “jump!”  

But the boy would not jump. He stood on the rail, his shoulders hunched, trembling with nerves.  No coaxing could persuade him to jump.  

Moody's friend stepped closer and gently placed the second child safely on the ground. 

As the men watched the boys happily chase each other across the yard, his friend turned to Moody and said "the first boy is my son, the second is his school friend. Both knew I was capable of catching them when they jumped off the fence, but only my son believed."

We all live what we believe. 

The second story comes from the Bible, the book of John.  Imagine this scene.  

We are at a pool in Jerusalem, called Bethesda.  Hot sun. Palm trees. Cool blue water. 

And many people crowding around the pool waiting.  

They waited for a miracle.  You see, at certain times, an angel would descend to the pool and stir up the waters, and when that happened the first person to step into the water was healed.  Thus, many ill people waited near the pool for their chance to be healed. 

There was one man who sat on a mat by the pool.  John tells us that he had been an invalid for 38 years. He had seen the waters move at times but, because he was lame, others always got in the water before him. Someone else always moved to the water faster. 

Jesus came to Bethesda and met this man.  After hearing the man’s story, Jesus tells him to take up his bed and walk. 

The man's belief in his healing is demonstrated by his behavior. He believed that the water would heal him, so he stayed near the pool. When he met Jesus and was healed, the man believed that Jesus, first of all, had the power to heal him and second, that Jesus did indeed heal him. So the man got up after 38 years and walked. 

We all live what we believe, day in and day out, whatever our beliefs may be.

Whether we set cookies and milk out for Santa on Christmas Eve, dress our snowmen in Frosty’s silk top hat, or share the true meaning of Christmas with the ones we love, our behavior demonstrates our beliefs.

To believe is to have confidence in the truth and, if I may be at liberty to improve on webster’s definition, to act upon it.  

The third and final TRUE story I’d like to share is Luke’s account of Jesus birth.  Note how each person who believed in the Savior’s birth also demonstrated their belief in action.  

Luke 2:1-21

"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 

And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb."

Luke 2:1-21

Who in the Christmas story demonstrated their belief, their faith, their confidence in the truth of the Savior’s birth?

Mary: obeying the angel in naming the baby, Jesus

Joseph: staying with Mary and raising God’s son as his own

Shepherds: going to Bethlehem, sharing the good news

May we follow these examples as we demonstrate our belief in God’s saving grace. 

Let’s Pray.

Heavenly Father,  May each woman in this room, every woman in our church, be women of grace. 

May we believe in You. In your birth, in your death, in your sacrifice for each of us, in your power alone to save us from our sins. 

And may our behavior prove our beliefs. May we take every opportunity to share the truth of your word. And by our lives and testimonies, may your kingdom increase. 

We love you. In the name of your precious son, Jesus.   Amen.