The other day I was in the car listening to Christmas music mostly because I was in a horrible mood. I was late to where ever I was going (sometimes the story of my life) and so I was yelling at the kids to “hurry up and GET IN THE CAR!!!”
Then the song “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas” came on the radio.
“Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas….”
“Let your heart be light…..”
And it hit me like a ton of bricks, so much so that I started bawling like a baby. I have been bah-humbugging-it around for these last couple of weeks—so annoyed with everything about Christmas.
Like the fact that the Christmas tree can’t stay decorated for two seconds (and my youngest is four!) . Or that fact that half the nativity is missing parts from last year—and we can’t find them anywhere–and I think they got lost in the move.
I let them all annoy me.
Then the phrase came on the radio again “let your heart be light…..”
And right there in the minute I made a decision that this Holiday Season, I was going to try to find every way for my heart to be light. The little things don’t matter—they really don’t. What does it matter if the tree ornaments are half of the time on the floor? It doesn’t. Or having a light heart means I can find a new nativity this year to focus on.
Because I want the warmth and light of the season to shine through this year—and I think that starts with my own heart. And I know that my heart leads to actions.
So my plan this month is to do things that bring me a light heart—serve, read Christmas stories, and find the peace that this season brings to me so that the true Spirit of Christmas will be in my heart and home this year.
I would love your thoughts….how do you not let the stress and craziness of the season overwhelm you? And ideas for my “light heart” project?
~Elizabeth
Did you know that song was written for the movie, “Meet Me in St. Louis”? And that the original lyrics were a lot more depressing? I have a tendency to stress the little stuff ALL YEAR LONG. My husband helps keep things in perspective. “The laundry didn’t get done?” he says, “don’t worry, there’s always tomorrow! “
You’ve just described my attitude yesterday, right down to being pissy about missing Nativity pieces!! I had to sit down and pray last night because I just felt overwhelmed and discouraged. We lost my brother unexpectedly earlier this year and it’s been tough for me to feel joyful about anything this year. But when I focus on the true meaning of Christmas; God becoming man and coming to earth FOR ME, it really changes my heart. Thanks for this post! I needed it.
I have to wire my ornaments onto the tree. Our town has a Festival of Trees, and in order to keep the ornaments on while they are being delivered they have all participants wire their ornaments on. That’s where I got the idea. I have used twist ties and wire from the hardware store (26 gauge). You just have to twist each wire a couple of times, so it goes quickly.
I think we have it easy because all our family is in Michigan and we are here in Missouri. We have never felt obligated to visit anyone (for the holidays) since we moved away. (Summer is enough–we refer to it as “the circus coming to town” with all the stops in different cities.) Also, all our parents have split and remarried so how would you even begin to figure that one out?! Not gonna’ happen! We have visitors sometimes for Thanksgiving, but rarely. We made it clear after our first set of grandparents came for Christmas that it was lovely, but we preferred just the four of us. So we do our thing here. As for other “duties”, I have to sometimes let Christmas cards go. This will be the second year in the last four that I am not going to add that to the list. Things have still managed to start piling up a bit with regular mom duties but I end up “deleting” if not totally needed to do. I also get decorating done on Thanksgiving weekend (big help!) and shop online instead of running around! For me right now, I am in a new place due to a health issue that arose late summer. This has made me slow down, find more balance, and appreciate the joys of this world daily–and know how fortunate my family is.
This year we are living temporarily in another location. We’re about halfway through 18 months here. I put some of my decorations in storage and kept out only the essentials. Last weekend we put up a little fake tree, one little nativity set, and got out the two little wood nativities the kids can play with. And that was it. It took less than 30 min to decorate, my kids love it, and it is simple. I ended up liking it! I also did my shopping mostly in September and October. So keeping things simple is what is working for me this year!
I did know it was written for the movie but didn’t know that it had different lyrics originally…..and I love your husband’s attitude! You sound like you got a good one 😉
Why is it that missing pieces give me so much anxiety? And I am so sorry for your loss….you are so right about focusing on what really matters this season!
That is a brilliant idea!
I hear you on the letting things that don’t matter go this year!!! And I haven’t even added Christmas cards to my list yet—they may be the first to go 😉
I love the keeping it simple! We had all of our things in storage for a couple of months and I really didn’t miss much…..I love the idea of simplifying this year.