Colourful lights are shining here and there, toy and gift shops are buzzing. Faces are beaming with smiles. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Christmas is a season we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Just like everyone one of us celebrates birthdays, we need to celebrate Jesus too. The birth of Jesus brought hope to the world for a second chance of eternal life. Jesus came and bore our sins that we might be free.
The Christmas holiday comes with mixed feelings. We all are happy that we will be meeting with our family and friends. At the same time, we cannot help but detest the difficulties that come with Christmas.
Shopping
Shopping
Shopping for the Christmas holiday is very tricky. It is because we have to get an estimate of what will be used this holiday. Unlike the previous shopping, we have to shop for more people who we are not sure of what they want.
Gift shopping, on the other hand, can be stressful too. Apart from the fact that we might be financially constrained, we might also not know what to buy. It is because we have not been in touch with some of our friends and family. It is hard to decide what they will appreciate.
God is the giver of wisdom. We can ask him to grant us the wisdom to meet everyone's needs. We should not doubt His ability to give us great insight, as it is written in the Bible.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." ( James 1:5-6)
Jolly Activities
Christmas comes with a lot of jolly activities like parties, dinners, Christmas carols and many more. Attending all these functions can be stressful. It is because we have to participate in the jollying. Imagine having to smile and being gentle for 5 hours straight.
It might be natural to social people, not introverts. Introverts will tire out fast as they are not used to being with many people for a long time. The social ones will tire out too but not as quickly as the introverts.
A good solution would be to have a quiet time with God. In all the stressful activities, we must find time to be alone. It helps us recharge our social batteries and get ready for the next activity. It also helps us reflect on God, which makes our relationship stronger with Him this season.
Financial Pressure.
Financial pressure is usually unavoidable during Christmas. It is why most people will start saving from January. Yes, that is a bit of advice. Start saving from January to avoid feeling pressure in November and December.
Expenses during December are unavoidable. It is like hoping to attend school without paying a tuition fee. As Christians, we can pray to God to give us the grace to start saving early. God can also provide for us using other people. The Bible makes us understand this in 1 Corinthians 9:8
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."
Family Drama
Any form of relationship on earth can be loose at some point. Families do tend to fall out at every point in time. It is because a family comprises individuals with different valves.
A good way to surf through family drama is to lower our expectations of a perfect family. We must understand that everyone is under stress and, we all deal with stress differently. We can organize recreational activities to ease everyone's stress.
Devotion To God
Devotion to God are actions that show our faithfulness to God. We can have personal devotions or family devotions. Personal devotions help us maintain our inner peace and sanity. In this time, we reflect on what God expects of us this season. We also have time to recollect on our past activities to judge if we handled them well.
When we find out that we have not handled some situations right, we can go back and make amends. For example, if we realize we were mean to an elder, we can go back and apologize. We must understand that it is never too late to make amends.
Family devotions help to tighten family ties. Through Devotion to God every day, families get to interact. They get to share what God expects of them. It is a great way to ease family tension or drama discussed above.
Blessify offers powerful prayers and verses for devotions. When we don't have things to talk about during devotion, Blessify offers content every day. It also provides daily Bible verses, stories and prayers to amplify our gratitude.
Tolerance
Our tolerance level this period should be over 80%. We are most likely going to meet new people at home, church and other places. We must understand that people react differently to situations. Apart from this, people will be very stressed and will most likely lash out from time to time.
With this understanding, we will not get angry at every little thing. This habit makes our Christmas mindset ten times more healthy.
The Bible also teaches us to be tolerant. "With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love," Ephesians 4:2. Blessify also offers us a lot of quotes on tolerance from the Bible.
Praying
We need to talk to God at all times this season. We can present requests and show gratitude as well. In praying, we ask him to give divine wisdom and strength. We need it to have a healthy mindset.
Limit Expectations
A general quote says "great expectations always hurt". As Christians, we must understand that we are not perfect. We should try to put our best into making a better Christmas.
It does not mean that we should chastise ourselves when things go wrong. Things are bound to go wrong at some point. If we accept this fact early, our mindsets will be healthier.
Adequate Planning
We can make a to-do list for each day this season. It helps us mentally prepare for upcoming events. It makes us more organized and less stressed.
When we have an organized daily schedule, we know activities will decline. Most of us can relate to situations where we accepted invitations to activities clashing with activities we earlier agreed to. It leaves us disorganized and mentally drained.
Christmas activities are always merry but stressful. It leads to Christmas anxiety and mental drainage. If we follow the steps discussed above, our mindset will be healthy.
Let us not forget to keep our faith strong this Christmas. It may be challenging but, Blessify will help us. Blessify will give us daily prayers, verses and stories according to our current state of mind.
Out of the abundance God has blessed us with, let us not forget to stretch it to those who also need it.
Have a splendid Christmas.
