December. As we enter into December, I’m reminded that sometimes changes come and we need to embrace them and keep on. I’m not sure why this just brought tears to my eyes but it did. But I hope this post, Choosing to Be Content with Less “Things” this Holiday Season brings you a little encouragement to choose less as we enter this holiday season.
Choosing Activities Over “Things”
You see, I used to be all about fully decorating my home and making it into a merry little magical place. And then we moved across country and things have not being the same. As a result, I’ve had to “force” myself to do away with many of the things I love. One such “do away” is with my love for decorating. I’ve struggled and I’ve struggled hard to make our house work for us. Nevertheless, everything just seems to work against us.
Let me tell you, I’ve moved around locally in our original home state and everything still felt like home. Not so with this move. Unfortunately, things have not worked out for us the way we hoped. Last year, I tried to bring some holiday familiarity to our home for the kids and for all our sakes. But it meant that I had to pretty much put away all our regular operating items (that I was still trying to organize). This year, I decided I just couldn’t. Our house (though fully remodeled) has a lack of storage and everything just ends up in the basement, creating an even bigger mess that I’d rather have.
Everyone’s Home is Different
Everyone’s path and home is different. Some years we must accept the change and work accordingly. So this year, instead of trying to “keep up with the Joneses”, I decided to do what is best for the mental sanity of our family. I just don’t have room for our everyday basics due to the lack of storage in the house. I keep a ton of things just in baskets on table tops and to have to move them would mean putting them in the basement and having to go get them there for daily use. That doesn’t seem very sensible to me in the name of holiday decor. But we do have Christmas trees, and I did the mantle and we added some things on the porch. These are places where I don’t necessarily have to remove our everyday use for the sake of decor. My goal this time is to focus on activities rather than things.
Content with Letting Go
I say all this above to say that sometimes we find ourselves wondering what has gone wrong and we’re unsure how we should fix things or how to carry on. It’s worse when there’s feelings of “no one understands” or when you have no one you can turn to to help you figure it out”. We feel like our only solution is to let them go. Something as decorating for the holidays may seem frivolous to some. And indeed, making memories is more important that filling your home with all kinds of stuff. But when you feel like your world has somehow crumbled and has impacted various areas of your life, it’s a hard place to be in. So no, home decorating is not the main issue here. It’s a manifestation of something deeper. Something deeper that only my family understands right now.
If for some reason you find yourself in a similar state like us this holiday season, I want to encourage you. You may be in that place where you have to make a decision to let some things go despite your endless efforts to hang on to them. Such things can be both physical or but I want you to have hope. It’s easier said than done but it’s what can help our minds and our hearts as we look to the ONE who can help us. It’s the hope in Jesus who came as that babe in a manger to later bring redemption to the weary world – that should be our main focus. And as we look toward that hope, everything else will seem frivolous. We’ll know that we’ve made the right choice. So take home in that. And remember that Christ can do abundantly above All that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).
Holiday To Do List
I made a little Holiday To Do List that you can download and print to use if you need further help as you plan holiday activities. It’s not an exasperated list by any means. I intentionally made it this way so it will feel less overwhelming. For further encouragement, you can also listen to my holiday Christian songs playlist via my Spotify link here. I sure hope you feel encouraged today and this season to find contentment while letting go of the things you need to.
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“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
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