The Secret to a Wonderful Christmas

Every Christmas I say to myself, "This year I'm not going to get stressed out. This year I'm going to remember the True Meaning of Christmas..."

But as the season gets closer, my mind and heart get clouded by the "have-tos" and I find myself bogged down by guilt and panic.

As a child growing up, my parents made Christmas pretty magical. And I have always had a high standard for making the season magical for my children too.

But as an adult, what I have had to discover on my own is that I cannot make Christmas perfect.

 And there is no need for it to be!

There is a line in a Christmas song by one of my favorite musicians, Linford Detweiler, that says, "Am I ready to receive the Gift the Christ Child has for me?"

 

And that line hits me every year. I try to keep it in my mind, actually. 

 

Because the true meaning of Christmas is not all the stuff, and we know that! So why is it so hard to put it into practice?

I want to give my family a beautiful Christmas. I want to celebrate in the most magical way possible. 

I want to give my loved ones gifts that bring them joy, that make them feel loved.

I want to get the most out of every day this season.

We have an idea, don't we? That we must give our loved ones The Perfect Gift in order to show them how much we love them- that somehow, if we don't do that, it's a sign that we don't love them enough.

This is a lie! Of course, we want to give our loved ones things they enjoy, things that show how we love them and know about them.  We want to express our love through the perfect gift. But life isn't perfect- love isn't perfect. We make a mess of things and we forgive each other and we love each other anyway.

And sometimes, things work out pretty good!

What I'm saying is, CHRISTMAS DOESN'T HAVE TO BE PERFECT! It just has to be full of love.

You know how in the movies, there's always a moment where either the tree falls over, or a special ornament shatters and it is supposed to be a bad omen? That's not real!

I used to always laugh at those parts in the movies because when our kids were younger, we pretty much had the tree fall over at least once a year. We came to think of it as our tradition. It was no bad omen! It meant life is life and here we are, and this is what happens.

So celebrate the season by bringing hope to the hopeless. Burn the cookies, sing the carols off key, and give gifts to your loved ones. Oops, I forgot to fill the advent calendar- let the kids be part of the magic!!

When we let go of trying to make things perfect, we are able to receive the Christ Child's gift for us:

HIS PEACE. Which is the whole point of Christmas!

 Christmas doesn't have to be perfect...

It just has to be...

FULL OF LOVE!

Happy learning!

~Beth

Lessons From Dickens' Christmas Carol

 Since Fynn was very little he has been very much into Mickey's Christmas Carol and Muppets Christmas Carol during the holiday season.

 He used to dress up like Scrooge in his "best dressing gown", hat and cane, saying, "are you Hooge?" (Which meant "Look at me, I'm Scrooge!") He also loved to dress up like Gonzo as "Charles Dickens", in a scarf, sport coat and flat cap.

 For a craft, Fynn and I made a doorknocker with Goofy's face (as Jacob Marley) which became a Christmas Treasure we put on the door every year. We've also made chains of white paper (Jacob Marley's Chains), and framed in our hallway at Christmas time are the sayings, "Talk is Cheap" and "Time is Money", which can be quite puzzling if you don't know the meaning behind them. (They hang on the wall of Scrooge's Counting House in Mickey's Christmas Carol.)

 He used to also sing the "Marley and Marley" song (Muppets ) over and over again while on the swing.

 Those two movies have inspired so many conversations for us as a family. There is the theme of Scrooge "changing his ways", which is something we talk about a lot. There is also the Christmas Spirit of Giving, and "being a good friend", the Mystery element: who really are the Ghosts of Christmas? and the Fear element. Fear is a big topic in Fynn's life. He always becomes obsessed with things that scare him until he can conquer it ~ then it becomes his favorite thing.

 This year, Rowan and I made door knockers of both Jacob and Robert Marley (Muppets), and Fynn helped me turn a sheet into The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come (Muppets) and Scrooge's Tombstone. Very spooky. Fynn has been very much into "spooky" this year, and it's hard to explain, but it's in a very good way. Let me put it this way: If the Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come is in your room, who can hurt you?

 As an adult, I have to recommend reading the original story. There are parts in the book that get left out in the movies, that are wonderful, beautiful, and hilarious! But I do highly recommend also the two movies mentioned; they are beautifully done, and have influenced our lives. As someone who appreciates hand-drawn animation, Mickey's is the most beautiful on my list.

Goofy as Jacob Marley Doorknocker

Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come

Muppets Jacob Marley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Learning!

 

~Beth