Busy, but Important? - Gretchen Combs

Breath Prayer and Words for the Day:  God, I surrender to you all my cluttered thoughts.

Additional Verse:   “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.  Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD  Almighty.   Malachi 3:1-6

I love getting Christmas cards!  I love the cards, the notes, the memories, the EVERYTHING about Christmas cards.  But I don’t send them anymore, so it’s kind of cut down on my “ receivership”!  It’s not that I didn’t want to send Christmas cards, it was just that I could not get them sent (or written to be brutally honest)!  It just happened…Holiday Over-Load!   Gift lists.  Menu planning.  Travel arrangements.  School programs.  Holiday concerts.  House decorating.  Just ordinary laundry can cause a melt-down.  The busyness of the season often leaves me so frayed by Christmas day that I’m unable to enjoy anything at all.  I only want to rest!

I know I’m not alone in this exhausting cycle we have created of ourselves.  It is so easy to completely miss the real meaning of Christmas.  Remember, Scripture tells us that a messenger was coming to prepare the way for the Messiah.  It was John the Baptist who pleaded with the people to prepare their hearts for Jesus.     Making ready.  Waiting.   Sharing.  Waiting for the single most important item of the holiday season.  Jesus, the most important gift of the season, the gift to be shared with family and friends.

John the Baptist wasn’t concerned with cooking, cleaning, gifts or holiday parties. He was concerned about the preparation of hearts to accept the promised King.  

God, I surrender to you all my cluttered thoughts.

<Click here> to see a fun family activity for Advent.

Consider

Which tradition of Christmas is most important to your family and why?

Is there anything that you could eliminate without losing the “Christmas spirit” to help you feel less overwhelmed?

Adult Challenge
Reread the Scripture and meditate on Jesus, shutting out all other sounds and listening for his voice. Are you filled with the joy of Jesus’ birth? In what new way could you express your joy?

Child Prompt
My favorite part of Christmas is: