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How to Get Christmas Done without Coming Undone

ByKaren Ehman

christmas.done

I’ll bet you’ve been there.

Whether it is when you spy the first shiny Christmas decorations that have made their way onto the department store shelves when the calendar on your phone still declares that it is still October.

Or when you overhear someone talking about being “nearly finished” with buying for everyone on their Christmas list when you haven’t even purchased a single stuffer for anyone’s stocking.

Or perhaps it is when you catch the year’s first glimpse of one of those heart-tugging commercials where someone pulls off a holiday act of kindness {like sneaking into the apartment of an elderly neighbor and decorating it from top to bottom, making it look as if it should be on HGTV!} Why, you’d love for your family to reach out at the holidays but your December schedule is so crammed-full of activities you know it just isn’t gonna happen again this year.

And so, you begin to break into a holiday panic just a little.

I like to refer to it as the “Yuletide Yikes”!

But parents don’t need to fret this year. With a little thought, and a tad more planning, this Christmas can be different. Here’s how:

Gather the family for a time of holiday re-evaluation. Toss out the following questions. Encourage everyone to be honest in their answers. Your goal is to decide just what is important at the holidays for your family in particular and what other activities and expectations you can let go of.

  • What has been your favorite family tradition at Christmastime?
  • Are their any traditions or activities we are doing that really aren’t something you love to do?
  • Have the adults share their favorite holiday memory. Discuss whether it had to do more with money or with people? With getting or with doing?
  • Discuss if there is a new tradition that the family may want to try this year.
  • Then, talk about the food. Decide what holiday cuisine they most look forward to and any other items that are being made that really aren’t necessarily their favorites and this year could just be skipped altogether.
  • If your family were to scale way back on gifts, have each member share just one or two items they’d love to receive this year.
  • The holiday season is often most stressful for mom. Strategize ways you can divvy up the responsibilities with the decorating, cooking, wrapping, and such so that all the tasks don’t fall on mom’s shoulders.
  • Brainstorm who your family might reach out to at this time of year. List specific actions you can do for others and then set a time now to do them.
  • Finally, discuss how your family can celebrate in a way that zeros in on the true meaning of Christmas rather than focusing on getting gifts for themselves.

Now, after holding your family meeting, make an effort to scale back this Christmas on any unneccesary hustle and bustle or secular trappings that aren’t meaningful to your particular family. Instead make it you goal to both gather loved ones in close and also reach out with the love of Christ to those who might need it most.

Then, you can celebrate in a way that makes memories for your family while also blessing others!

Enough of the yuletide yikes!

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BlogButton-03-3This year get Christmas all done without coming undone.

Announcing a 7-day free email resource just for you called 7 Days to a Hassle-Free Holiday by Karen Ehman and Glynnis Whitwer.

This resource will equip you with practical tools and inspiration to help you have yourself a stress-free little Christmas this year.

To sign up, simply click on the image to enter your email address and for the next 7 days you will receive ideas and encouragement for taking the hassle-out of the holidays in your cleaning, decorating, cooking and baking, gift-giving, and traditions. You’ll also be given some great out-reach ideas to help your family focus on giving and serving rather than getting and “stuff”. And finally, as an added bonus, you get 25 easy and delicious recipes as a PDF in the following categories:

  • Holiday get-together (or take on the road) dishes

  • DIY food gifts

  • Quick and easy dinners for those crazy-busy holiday-prepping days

  • Fun foods to make with kids

  • Retro Christmas cookies

Have a holy and hassle-free Christmas this year! {To sign up CLICK HERE}

Karen Ehman is a New York Times bestselling author, Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker, and writer for Encouragement for Today an online devotional that reaches over 4 million women daily. She has authored 11 books including KEEP IT SHUT: What to Say, How to Say It and When to Say Nothing at All. Her newest book and DVD Bible study, Listen, Love, Repeat: Other-Centered Living in a Self-Centered World, is full of ideas for scattering kindness to family, friends, strangers, and the "necessary people" who help you get life done each week. Karen has been a guest on national media outlets including The 700 Club, FamilyLife with Dennis Rainey, Moody Midday Connection, and Focus on the Family. She is also a contributor to Foxnews.com, Crosswalk.com, Redbookmag.com, and LifeBeautiful.com. She has been married for over a quarter-century to her college sweetheart Todd and is the mom of three children ranging from teen to adult. She resides in central Michigan where she enjoys cheering for the Detroit Tigers and processing life with the many people who gather around her kitchen island. You can connect with her at www.karenehman.com where she helps women to live their priorities and love their lives.

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