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Less Stress During The Holidays |
By:
Kerry Beck |
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Less Stress During the Holidays
Kerry Beck
You might say that I have lost my mind if I said that I have a stress free Christmas. Well, my sanity is still intact and we have had several Christmases that were stress-free in the past. I would like to tell you about the things I've learned to help reduce the stress during the Yuletide season.
READ GOD’S WORD EVERY MORNING
I start by reading God's Word every day. Hearing from God & speaking to Him each day is a great boost for me and it strengthens and preps me to be the mom He wants me to be. During breakfast, we start our family devotions and begin our children's day on the right track as well. Each of my children understand that they are to read their Bible after waking. There are times that some of the kids need a little more reminding.
DON’T DO EVERY ACTIVITY THAT COMES ALONG
Although evident, it took me a couple of years to learn this lesson. In reality, my husband helped me lessen the activity in our lives during the holiday season.
In the past, I wanted our kids to experience everything available during this season. What was actually happening was I began to harbor stress that would usually explode around Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. (I’m sure none of you have ever experienced this.
WHICH ACTIVITIES DO I CHOOSE
What works for us is to pick only 1 or at most 2 Christmas activities or gatherings to attend outside our home. The others we do at home. This is one of the best stress reducers and I am not "forcing" my husband to go to one more Christmas activity every week. He's still working all day to provide for our family. Instead of being tired and grouchy, he is much happier going to fewer activities and enjoying the company of his relatives and friends.
We enjoy having other people in our home, so we take advantage on this. Our kids help in the cleaning and cooking, so our workload is minimized and I feel stressed when our visitors come.
HAPPINESS IN YOUR HOME
I will always have more activities for us to do than we have time for. This past Thanksgiving weekend I decided which activities will wait until next year.
REMEMBER: YOU CAN’T DO EVERY THING, EVERY YEAR.
I try to select activities that inspire my children to do something for others, instead of only thinking of themselves during the holiday season. One of the things we used to do is charity work by raising money for a missionary family. The kids would take orders for pumpkin bread loaves and chocolate chip cookies. After making and delivering them to their customers, they would pay me back for the ingredients and supplies used. The remaining money was their profit, which was used to buy useful gifts for a missionary family.
This year we hope to have some kids over our house to bake cookies so their moms can do some uninterrupted Christmas shopping. A Christmas card stamping party for the younger kids would make a swell activity. I’m still thinking on how that will work.
I have some other ideas that are included in Advent, Christmas & Epiphany Celebration Ideas.
LIVEN UP SCHOOL WITH CHRISTMAS
If you homeschool, drop some of your formal schoolwork and have fun during this season. There are myriad of ways of incorporating math, writing & reading concepts as we do baking, shopping and preparing for Christmas day.
At our house, we still read aloud each morning and then work on a Christmas project. This may include handwork type crafts or other quiet projects.
DO YOU FEEL A TREMENDOUS NERVOUS STRAIN DURING THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS? Stop and take a moment right now and prioritize all the activities you and your family want to do. Pick only 1 or 2 activities that the entire family can enjoy and pass on the rest.
Being at home with your family is enjoyable. Invite another family over to roast marshmallows and mingle with them. At the center of this Christmas activity, keep your hearts tuned to Jesus Christ. Without His love for us, we would not be celebrating the true meaning of Christmas.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8
Kerry Beck wants to offer you her http://www.christmascelebrationideas.com/article.htm) free Advent activities for your family's Christmas Celebration this season. Her package also includes the helps to http://www.christmascelebrationideas.com/article.htm) reduce holiday stress. You are welcome to reprint this article - but get your own http://www.uberarticles.com/?id=36563&b=79 unique content version here.
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