The Best Advice of the Season

'Tis the season of friendly advice. Have you noticed how many lifestyle experts are suddenly employed by major networks, magazine publishers, and online new sources? Seems each has his or her own list of suggestions to make our holiday season the most festive, organized, stress-free, happy, simple, inexpensive (the list goes on and on) of our lifetime. When I'm not stressed over making sure I have accessorized my day-to-evening look properly, I'm busily gathering toilet paper tubes, flameless candles, Christmas tree cuttings and assorted nuts and berries to give my home that "not-overdone" seasonal glow.

It's the second day of December and the endless wisdom of those in the know has already simultaneously made me feel exhausted and lazy.

Truth is, I've tried many of these innovative plans in Christmases past. I've attempted the handmade holiday, the "Let's just stay home in our pajamas and be cozy" holiday, the "Make sure everyone has everything on their list" holiday, and the traditional "Griswald Family Christmas" holiday. Through it all, I've become grayer, wiser, and much more skeptical of the musings of what we now call "lifestyle experts." Most importantly, all my experience has given me insight. I believe I hold the ONE piece of advice everyone really needs to hear about how to plan and execute the perfect Christmas.

Drumroll.

Seriously, drumroll . . . . . . .

You can't plan joy.

That's it.

Seems anticlimactic, but trust me, it's the truest statement you will hear this season. For all the time and effort and sweat and, yes, sometimes even blood, that you put into making this the best holiday for you and your family, you can't plan joy. The most meaningful and loving moments you experience will come in the midst of chaos, or quiet, or the aftermath of everything you thought was important.

So before you make another list, or beat yourself up for one more thing you haven't or can't achieve, chin up! Joy will come when you least expect it, and most certainly when you don't plan it.

Be sure you're still awake and present enough
to catch hold and savor it!

December, A Time for Letting Go

December has arrived. As I set about decorating for the season, I can't help but notice how many boxes have accumulated in my basement over the years. Some hold tried and true ornaments, some are filled with lights for inside and out, some hold treasures made long ago by little hands, which have now grown to teenaged hands.

But what baffles me each year are the many boxes packed with things that never get dusted off and displayed. I have found myself (for several years in a row) opening these boxes, mentally determining their contents unfit or no longer desired, and placing them back on the shelf. What keeps me from donating or dumping what's inside? What attachment do I have for objects that can't hold my interest long enough to unwrap them from years' old newsprint?

Seems these things I hold so tightly carry with them a burden. I dread opening them each year. I feel guilt for collecting so much stuff and more guilt for being unable or unwilling to get rid of it. The stuff takes up space, too. Its mass is cluttering and closes in on my ability to breathe easily. It steals a place I could fill with something I would really love, something I would look forward to opening each year.

If a few unwanted boxes of Christmas decorations carry such a chain reaction of emotion and obligation, what about the other baggage I carry around everyday? How many boxes are hidden in my life filled with habits, memories, grudges, hurts, dreams, goals, etc.? What do I dread opening for fear it will remind me of what I am afraid to confront, unwilling to unpack, too stubborn to face, or too cautious to try? 

If I clear out those cluttered spaces, what blessings, joys, hopes, and love might fill the newly empty spaces?

Not a bad thought to ponder this Advent season. What fills the spaces of your life, your heart, and your home? Which of those are you ready to face and let go? 

For me today, it starts with a trip to Goodwill!

Little Ways are Coming!

Introducing

Little Ways 

products and meditations

Helping you grow closer to God one little way at a time.

More details coming soon!

Ash Wednesday

Did you know the ashes used to mark your forehead on Ash Wednesday come from burning the blessed palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. As the words "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return," are spoken, a cross with these ashes is marked on your forehead. What could be a better reminder of the circle of our life and the fact that God blesses us with new purposes for each phase along the way?

As Lent begins, I find myself asking what will be the focus of my reflection this year? What will I add or give up? To be honest, sometimes asking myself these questions seems a bit habitual or even trite. I mean what will really change in my life if I give up chocolate for forty days (obvious benefits to my waistline aside). I feel like I want more out of this experience. How can I make this Lent really have an impact on my heart and on my faith?

This started me thinking. If I'm really committed to NOT taking the easy route of doing what I've always done, I need to slow down and take a good long look in the mirror.

People say the older you get the faster life goes. For this reason, I think we sometimes let life run away with our identities. We often don't realize it until a huge, earth-shattering experience, diagnosis, or event stops us in our tracks. We are left unrecognizable standing shell-shocked amidst the choices we have made while running on autopilot.

To counteract this fast-moving forward momentum, I'm suggesting a little self-imposed pit stop. Perhaps forty-ish days in the Lenten desert would do the trick? Are you game? If so, we start today with a deep breath and a little self-assessment. Begin by thinking about what phase of life you find yourself in right now. Then ask yourself some questions. Here are few ideas to get you started:

What are your habits?
What do you believe?
How do you show those beliefs?
Are you at peace?
How do you treat others?
Do you talk to God?
Are you proud of the person you are today?
Would God be?

Join me in slowing things down this Lenten season. Take a good hard look at who you are, how you behave, and what you believe. Then start thinking about what you can do to make meaningful and lasting changes in your life, your relationships with others, and your friendship with God. The first step is to discover who are you at this phase in your life. Then you will be ready to hear how God is calling you and to figure out how you can answer.

Merry Christmas!

May you and your family enjoy a blessed and peaceful Christmas. Thank you for taking this journey with us. We hope you found a few treats along the way to enhance your Advent experience.

Praise God! A Savior is born to us this day!

One Day to GO!

We are only hours from the awaited time! Today let's contemplate those shepherds who played such an important part in the story that is about to unfold.

Think about a time when you struggled with a question or problem. After trying several complex solutions, you realize the answer is obvious. We often have a way of making easy things hard. Our minds send us in many directions when the answer is right before our eyes. Many of us share the tendency to "overthink".

Imagine if the shepherds in the Christmas story had done the same thing. An angel appeared and told them a Savior was born and waiting in a manager. What was their first reaction? They could have suspected the vision was a trick. They could have believed they had imagined the whole thing. They might have argued for hours over what really happened. They could even have quietly agreed to ignore the whole thing and save themselves the embarrassment of appearing foolish.

But they did none of these. The shepherds, despite their simple understanding of God, or perhaps because of it, willingly followed the words of an angel. They did not let doubt make things hard. The result was that they were the first humans to look upon the face of God.

What an amazing gift!

What are the simple truths God is blessing you with this Christmas? How might you let go of stubbornness, insecurity, fear, and doubt in order to see and receive them?

The hour is near. Open your heart and believe!

  

 

 

 

A Wintery Treat with 2 Left

With only two days till Christmas, enjoy a few scenes and words on winter.

In the depth of winter

I finally learned 

that there was in me

an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

 After all, the Earth must wait for spring.

No angel ever changed the pace of time.

Goodness is still tucked away below,

Empty as a field asleep in snow,

Like iron in the harshness of that clime

As God is born in frozen Bethlehem.

                                  © Nicholas Gordon

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields,
that it kisses them so gently?
And then it covers them up snug, you know,
with a white quilt;
and perhaps says,
"Go to sleep, darlings, till summer comes again."

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

"I love to watch the fine mist of the night come on,
The windows and the stars illumined, one by one,
The rivers of dark smoke pour upward lazily,
And the moon rise and turn them silver. I shall see
The springs, the summers, and the autumns slowly pass;
And when old Winter puts his blank face to the glass,
I shall close all my shutters, pull the curtains tight,
And build me stately palaces by candlelight."

Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du Mal