EVERY DECEMBER

(Guest post by: Lacy Hittle) Blogmas Day Twenty-One 2024

As I say every December, this month has flown by! I can’t believe that Christmas is just 4 days away.

Christmas Eve is my favorite day in December, particularly the evening when I get to go to Christmas Eve service at church. I have attended many different Christmas Eve services at different churches over the years, and I always notice that the feeling is almost exactly the same each time.

There are feelings of peace, joy, hope, and nostalgia that cause me to reflect on previous years. Each year I look back after Christmas is over and wish I could have that feeling back for a little while longer. Then I feel a sort of conviction because the Lord will allow me to feel this peace, joy, hope and nostalgia each and every day if I will let Him into my everyday life.

And really, I am the only thing stopping myself from allowing these feelings to last past Christmas Eve.

I always have so much that I want to pack into my schedule before Christmas comes; gatherings and sleepovers with friends, going to see Christmas lights, baking cookies and other desserts, and the list goes on. All of these things being experiences that bring temporary joy and excitement to the Christmas season.

However, I have done only a few things on my Christmas bucket list so far this year, and I am feeling completely content with that.

I am at ease knowing that I have not packed my schedule full of all of the activities, and that I may not see Christmas lights this year or bake cookies. In previous years, this would have caused me to arrive at December 26th only being able to focus on what I had not done.

I allowed my mind to believe that the emptiness I was feeling was caused by missing out on worldly activities. When in reality, the real reason for the emptiness in my heart was due to not being present spiritually in a time that should be completely centered around the Lord.

This year, I wanted that to change. I didn’t want to get to December 26th and feel regret about how I didn’t intentionally let the Lord into my life this Christmas season.

Going into this December, I wanted to make sure my heart was right before the Lord. I wanted to allow intentional time to slow down and focus on the real reason behind Christmas without packing my schedule full of work, gatherings, events, etc.

Our Bible study group discussed, for hours on end, how we can truly make this Christmas different. We all shared our hopes and ideas on how we wanted to practice living a slow, intentional life for the Lord this year that would impact the years to come.

I believe it is important all year round, but especially during the holidays, to set boundaries that create peace and stillness to allow intentional time with the Lord.

My parents had a rule when I was growing up that my mom, dad, brother and I do not leave our house on Christmas day for any family gatherings. Our family is welcome to visit us, and we will gladly attend family gatherings outside of Christmas day, but my parents wanted to allow us time to be slow, and to be together as a family, for the whole day on Christmas.

There was no stress of rushing to get up, quickly opening our gifts, and having to get out of our pj’s and into a nice outfit. I loved the peace that this created for my family on Christmas Day when I was growing up, especially since we seemed to always be too busy to spend concentrated time together without being distracted by a million other things.

Christmas may not be picture-perfect, or exactly how you hoped it would be every year. Don’t allow social media and the influences in the world around you make you feel like you are missing out on the Christmas experience.

Although someone you are watching on social media is posting all of the picture-perfect Christmas experiences, they may be feeling lonely and unfulfilled on the inside. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather have eternal joy in my heart than temporary joy from activities.

I challenge you, for the rest of the time leading up to this Christmas, and each year to come, to focus on Jesus over the things that the world is telling you to focus on. And I pray that this joy and peace floods your heart in the most impactful way and creates a lasting joy for the year ahead.

Let the Lord into your daily life, every day, all year, and do not allow yourself to be distracted from anything other than Jesus.