Making Space for Christmas

I am stressed out. I have a list in my phone of to dos, and just looking at it puts me in a bad mood. And its not full of bad stuff, its gifts I need to buy for people I love. Its Christmas performances and parties and a fun list of to-dos. But it stresses me out because it is a long list, and there is one of me.

My list is pulling me away from Christ in my Christmas. And that is so cheesy. “Jesus is the reason for the season.” But really, what am I stressing about? I need to make space for Jesus. I need to prepare my heart for the birth of my Lord. I need to stop and celebrate what this means for me. Because if I have that straightened out, I can do my list with a sense of purpose and meaning.

Every year on Christmas day we bake a cake for Jesus, and we gather my three kiddos around and sing him Happy Birthday and we blow out the candles. I like this tradition because I feel, my boys being so young, can understand cake. They know the birthday song. Christmas isn’t amazing because of Santa. Its because of Jesus. And in some small, silly way, they understand we are having cake because it is a loved ones birthday and that is cause for a celebration.

I was trying to explain to Maverick what “Advent is”, and he is four. I was telling him how we are preparing our hearts for Christmas and what that means, to celebrate Jesus….. and he interrupted me and said, “…And Santa. I need to prepare my heart for Santa coming into our home down the chimney.”

To Maverick, Santa is so real. Santa is coming into his house. To Maverick, he jumps up and down and is so excited because Santa is coming. (Insert Will Ferrel in “Elf” the movie: “SANTA IS COMING!!!)  I want to be like that about Jesus! It is our Saviors birthday. We are celebrating His birth and the fact that He came to this world.

Jesus is real and somehow we can miss it with the busyness of it all.  I need to make space this season, this month, for the birth of my King. That is something to celebrate and decorate and be excited about. That is what makes all the parties and songs and good cheer worth something. I love the C.S Lewis quote, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” What does that mean to you? What are you doing this season to make space for Jesus?