For Your Weekend … Christmas is almost here!

Christmas is almost here. Can you believe it?

I’m still wrapping presents and we even have a few gifts left to purchase. But we’re almost done. And I suppose that’s good since our family celebrations begin Monday.

I’ve read some wonderful posts over the past few weeks about preparing your heart for Christmas and I wanted to share them with you. It’s so easy to be distracted by all that needs to be done and miss the one needful thing. I journaled about my struggle with this very thing earlier this month …

It’s real, y’all. And it’s hard. We need to be reminded of what really matters, of what is lasting.

Here are few things I’ve read and found sooo encouraging …

What Does Christmas Have to Do with Body Image at For Every Mom

No joke, I’ve gained almost ten pounds in the past few weeks. Between basketball season and Christmas parties, I am thankful for elastic waists and flowing tunics. It’s easy to be distracted by the scale and feel like my worth is rooted in the number on it. But then I read words like this and am reminded of the truth:

‘Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

Christmas speaks to those of us who don’t feel very beautiful during the holidays. Christmas tells us that we don’t have to search for value in our appearance or strive to look more like the musical starlet singing Santa Baby in order to experience peace and joy.

Instead Christmas tells us that our meaning arrived with him.

Choosing Connection over Competition by Emily P. Freeman

If you will be spending time with any other women this holiday season, please read this. Trust me.

The Story of Curlie by Courtney DeFeo

I adore Courtney! She is the real deal in every way — and she is hilarious! But this post shows her huge heart in the most magnificent manner. If you want to know someone who making a real difference in the lives of others every single day, it’s Court! And if you want to be encouraged to do the same in your own community, she’s a great cheerleader!!

6 Ways to Find Freedom from the Frenzy this Christmas by Tricia Goyer

Another of my favorite people {and a precious encourager in my life!} is Tricia. And this post is pure gold.

The thing is, we are the ones in control. We choose what we allow into our holiday celebrations and what we won’t. We are the architects of our December schedule. The holidays happen by our design.

And that’s the problem. We don’t take time to design. We fill our schedules before we design what they should look like, and we end up in a great big frenzy!

Freedom from frenzy comes when we remove the “oppression of overdoing”that has a hold on us.

And, if you are feeling a little overwhelmed {or even underwhelmed} by all the madness the holidays, you might find this post I wrote for Not Quite Amish encouraging.

Christmas will be here before we know it and then we’ll all wonder where the year has gone. There will always be more to do than time to do it, I’ve learned that. But I hope I’m learning a more important lesson that will transcend the craziness of this time of year — to embrace the holy in the midst of the daily, every day of the year.

I’ll be sharing a couple of posts next week and I’m still writing daily Advent encouragements on Facebook … I would love for you to join us there. But mostly, I’m lingering with good books and watching favorite movies with my family. Casiday’s last basketball games before Christmas were last night so we’re even on a cheer break until January 6.