Sunday, November 7, 2010

Road Through the Holidays

I always approach the holiday season with anticipation and excitement. I love this time of year and all that comes with it; changing colors, smell of decaying leaves, fires in the fireplace, house slippers, electric bed heaters, decorating for Thanksgiving and Christmas. During this time I expect to draw closer to Jesus, understand Him better, have Him reveal Himself more clearly to me in the wonder and traditions that are the holidays.

Frequently, when January dawns, I look back over November and December for the moments of personal growth and soul drenching joy of the season, and do not find it.  There is so much effort put towards making everything festive and bright that Jesus was far from my mind and I, again, missed the joy of Him in the celebration. Church services, shopping, cooking and gift giving are all hurried to generate the most fun and celebration until it is all over, and I am in January, tired and tattered from all the revelry.

There are no illusions that the fault is my own. Therefore, this week, as I sought God in my studies and prayed for diligence to be more aware the Holy Spirit whispered across my mind that I need only to "be still".

Wow, who would have guessed that "being still" would cause me such angst.
I'm listening, though, and I have every intention of being obedient.

My plan is this; reading through the Bible passages that mention thanks, thankfulness or thanksgiving, through November, writing them down, pondering them and "being still". In December, reading through the passages associated with the Christmas story, writing them down, meditating on them and "being still".

It is my hope to enter January having thoroughly enjoyed the holidays for what they mean to me; to have spent quality time with my savior and be enriched and strengthened. Again, this is on me, can I be obedient to this plan? I'll let you know in January.

What do you do to celebrate Jesus in the holiday season?

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Ps. 46:10 NIV
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6 comments:

  1. Suzanne @ Window On The PrairieNovember 15, 2010 at 11:50 AM

    I try to keep the season as simple as possible so I can focus on what's most important, Jesus.
    Suzanne

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  2. SallyNovember 17, 2010 at 12:18 PM

    That is probably my biggest downfall, keeping it simple. There is so much I want to make, cook, decorate that I lose myself in the celebrations. The problem lies in all the "i's" in that statement!

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  3. PeggyNovember 18, 2010 at 5:42 PM

    Keeping it simple seems to bring peace to me.
    Like your blog and your writing.
    Saw you over at Susan's and decided to come by!

    ReplyDelete
  4. SallyNovember 19, 2010 at 11:53 AM

    Thanks for stopping over, Peggy, I appreciate the visit. Have a wonderful holiday.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Linda YezakDecember 13, 2010 at 3:53 PM

    We all need to remember to be still. Our greatest blessings come when we just rest in His presence. Thanks for the reminder!

    ReplyDelete
  6. SallyDecember 14, 2010 at 8:17 AM

    Linda, I wish I didn't need reminding so often. I'm making progress, through, and that is the true teller of the tale.

    ReplyDelete

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