In our high speed world you can have anything almost instantly. We would like the easy road to be best; but it isn’t always. The best things in life take a little preparation.
Take Christmas for instance. We all want to give the best gifts, which until the age of cyber shopping required multiple trips to the stores, and a never ending search for the “perfect” gift. Now we can sit at home and shop (Some places would say in three easy clicks); but it is not that easy. We still have to find the “perfect” gift, and to satisfy ourselves we look for the “best” price. The experience requires visiting multiple sites in order for the gift to match the likes of each person for whom we are shopping.
We would like to have the best decorated home on the block in just three easy steps. But anyone who has decorated their home will tell you even the simplest design requires more than three steps. To place pre-strung icicles on the eaves of a one story home takes at least six steps on the ladder … in multiple locations!
Ask anyone, simple is a lot harder than it looks.
We all desire the perfect Christmas filled with closeness to Christ and filled with Christian love. But the Christmas experience we really desire does not just happen. A spirit filled Christmas requires preparation.
For my children I wrote an Advent guide. Then I placed each activity on an Advent Calendar to make sure it got done. Over time I produced pamphlets to share with others. (This year my daughter and I printed a book.) As we diligently followed through on our plans for each day, when Christmas Day arrived we found it was more than the presents: Christmas was Christ. it was more than just a day: December 25th became the high point of a season. Our preparation made a great difference.
And not only did the preparation make a great difference each year … now that my children have grown and I hear them talk about their Christmas this year: the effort and preparation I put into each year as they were growing up paid dividends. For they carry with them the memories and the desire to keep the real Christmas alive for themselves, and share with others.
What will your Christmas look like? Rather than just letting Christmas “happen,” I would recommend a plan. And one plan (if you want it as simple as it could be) I would recommend is to buy our book Advent Journeys and use it for personal and dinner table devotions this year.
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