Day 11 of Having a "Mary" Christmas in a Martha World
As we start to think about the weeks leading up to Christmas and the weeks after Christmas, we think about all of the parties and obligations we have. The true question is, are we exhausting ourselves with trying to make it to every party and every Christmas Bazaar, to say that we were there and that we put our time in? Are we counting these obligations as family time? Are we really savoring each moment with our loved ones or are we just checking it off on our to-do list of Christmas.
I love a good check off list. You can ask my husband, I make lists upon lists, just so I can cross things off. But when it comes to Christmas we don’t create lists of who to spend time with or whose house we are going to next. But many times that is the way we are acting. Instead of a family Christmas party being time that we cherish and hold dear, it is just another obligation, another thing to check off our to-do list, to say that we were a participant at.
What’s the point of Christmas if we are exhausting ourselves with running from A to Z? Isn’t Christmas about savoring the moments with our families? About making memories together and creating new traditions? When we are so consumed in the hustle and bustle of going from A to B and doing X, Y and Z, there may times we get lost in saying that those moments are ‘family time.’ But are they really, or are we just justifying the busyness so that we don’t feel guilty that we aren’t spending quality family time with the ones we love.
So think about it, isn’t that what birthdays are about? A celebration of life, a time for family to get together and spend time together; to commit to each other and value the moments face to face with each other, to stop from the busyness of our lives and spend quality time with the people we love without being rushed to the next thing? So here we are within a rock's throw of Christmas. Do you think Mary was ready to rush to the next party, or the next Inn for a greater night’s sleep? No, she had her baby, she wanted to celebrate Him to all those that could come. She wasn’t worried about what else she needed to get to. Here and now is what’s important.
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