Did I Mention I’m Stressed? What to Do If You Feel Stressed This Christmas
Many Christmases ago, when my children were about 10, 7 and 3 we lived in a very rural area in a little house. And when I say we were poor, well, I’ll give you the picture in one of my friend’s favorite sayings. “If it cost a dime to walk around the block, I’d have to stay in the yard.”
My cousin lived right across the road and he drove up this particular day on the tractor pulling the flatbed trailer and announced he was taking the kids to cut down a Christmas tree! I was thrilled because I certainly couldn’t afford one. So, while they drove off into the woods, I began making room by the staircase to put the tree.
It wasn’t long before the happy group returned and I wish I had a picture of the tree to show you. It rivaled the one at Rockefeller Plaza in New York! It must have been 20 feet tall! My cousin had to cut off more than what wound up in the house! Anyway, we finally wrestled that thing in the door and got it up and had a merry time decorating it. The finished product was beautiful and the children were thrilled!
Did I mention we were poor? I could only afford to heat one room, the living room. Fortunately, I had a couch and a love seat and they both folded out into beds. Every night our living room magically turned into our bedroom and so it was this particular night. After all the excitement of the day, we bedded down for some much-needed rest.
By the way, did I mention we had a cat? About 2 am the cat decided to climb the tree. And did I mention the tree was right beside the love seat where I was fast asleep? You guessed it, the tree fell on top of me. I woke up screaming and totally confused how I got in the forest in the middle of the night! While I was fighting to find my way out, the children were screaming, the cat was caught in the tree screeching…. It was sheer chaos!
After it was all said and done, we had a good laugh!
Why am I telling you all of this?
Because among the restrictions of my financial situation, among the stress of affording gifts for the children, among the conditions in which we lived, there was still so much to be thankful for.
As you celebrate this Christmas…
As you go about your day this season, please don’t stress about how much you can put on that credit card. Don’t stress about what you may feed those that will be stopping by. Don’t stress over expectations of the season.
Mary gave birth to the Savior of the world in a lowly stable. She didn’t stress because He had no bed. She didn’t stress because there was no room in the inn. Her focus was on the newborn King!
Where is your focus this minute? Stop and thank God for all your blessings and especially the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ!
“Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words.”