I feel like I’m surrounded by people who are having a hard time getting into Christmas. For at least the past few years, my husband has initially dreaded it. I don’t know if it’s the commercialism, the fact that we are still in an apartment and he desperately wants to be in a house, or that the traditions feel more like obligations, but I had to remind him that he feels this way every year and eventually gets in the mood.
A friend who is also suffering from lack of Christmas Spirit has some contention on her side of the family and her mother-in-law shows no signs of moving out after they decided to help her. Add to that her husband’s lay-off and the mom being an emotional and financial drain on them, and it’s making for a pretty miserable Christmas. Oh, did I mention their basement flooded yesterday?
Another friend was about to lose her job and has now taken two jobs with a huge pay-cut, but she can’t afford the initial Christmas break with her new work, so she’s continuing with her current job through the holidays. She came home yesterday to find her good friend/neighbor’s house burned down. This neighbor had just rebuilt after a pipe flooded their home.
I’m struggling myself to really get in the mood. I’m going through the motions, I’m baking the treats, but something is missing. I’m hoping our Christmas program and devotional later this Sunday night will really help. One thing that touched me was this short video a friend shared from Mormon Messages.
It’s hard to love Christmas when you feel like you can’t afford it or when things don’t go as planned. We had a disappointment this weekend with our favorite Christmas tree farm being closed. It’s our tradition to cut down our own. I agonized a lot over how upset our kids might be, but they were just as happy to go to Home Depot together and pick an already cut tree (and it was a reasonable price!). I was surprised. I don’t give my kids enough credit as to how flexible they are. I think the expectations I perceive them to have aren’t theirs, but mine. They were just happy to be together.
Maybe the key is just to be grateful to be together and to strengthen relationships with others – to help those going through trials right now. We have so much to be grateful for, but most especially our Savior. I think I owe it to Him to love Christmas. As President Monson said, take off the “mas” and the Spirit of Christmas is the Spirit of Christ.
How do you get into the Christmas Spirit?
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