After my panic-mode Christmas prep drained my husband and me for years, I learned the most important preparation step for a peaceful Christmas. Simple is best for me. I’ve included an easy but delicious dessert recipe at the end of the post. Enjoy!
Clean and Christmas go together, don’t they?
- We clean so that we can decorate. Then we put away containers.
- We clean off counters, bake, and cook delicious meals. Then we wash the pots and pans until our fingertips look like raisins.
- We clean before company comes and then vacuum and straighten the house when they leave.
So much cleaning! Our homes should be diamond-sparkly this time of year.
Although our homes where people and pets live are rarely—if ever—spotless, we do like tidiness at holiday time. Before we decorate, cook, or entertain, we prefer cleanliness and order as a backdrop for our celebration, and we want our time with family and friends to be the best possible.
What makes Christmas time “the best possible?” An immaculate house with gourmet meals and beautifully wrapped gifts? Attendance at every party and function? All the favorite cookies and cakes baked and ready to serve? Nope, nope, and nope.
I learned this lesson the hard way. After years of worrying about every detail and racing around in panic mode to have our home “ready,” I realized my husband and I dreaded the endless to-do list. We spent too much time on preparation and too little time on celebration.
Had the luminaries on the driveway become more important to me than the light of Jesus shining from my heart?
This year we won’t have luminaries, and we didn’t finish the outside lights. I’ll help prepare Christmas dinner with family, but guess what I served friends this week. Chili, salad, and a special but easy dessert. (See the recipe below.) What blessed fellowship we enjoyed, and I wasn’t too exhausted to enjoy it.
My new motto is “Easy is better because fellowship matters more than fancy.”
Perfection is not an ingredient in the recipe for Christmas joy. In fact, perfectionism mixed with holiday prep can yield frustration, short tempers, and fatigue.
The most important ingredient for Christmas joy is a clean heart focused on Immanuel, God with us.
Unforgiveness, self-pity, selfishness, a critical attitude, and other sins clutter our hearts and occupy space God designed for the peace and joy of Jesus. I’m thankful He forgives us when we confess our sin.
Perfection is not an ingredient in the recipe for Christmas joy. In fact, perfectionism mixed with holiday prep can yield frustration, short tempers, and fatigue.The most important ingredient for Christmas joy is a clean heart… Share on X
At our house, we still work hard to clean, decorate, and cook, but we’re enjoying the time more and reducing excessive planning in favor of focusing on the true meaning of Christmas, family, and friendship.
As we clean and prepare our homes, let’s ask God to create a clean heart in us that we may celebrate His coming and the abundant life He offers to those who surrender to Him as Savior and Lord. Undesirable circumstances and difficult relationships may not change, but a clean heart promotes the celebration of His birth and and permeates homes at Christmas.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 ESV
May the peace and joy of Jesus fill our hearts and homes as we prepare room for Him.
How do you prepare for Christmas? Please share your hints.
Here’s a simple, but delicious dessert recipe from a book my mom gave me. Merry Christmas!
Toffee Crunch Ice Cream Bowls
2 cups coffee ice cream
3 (1.4-ounce) English toffee-flavored candy bars, crushed (Note: I used a bag of crushed toffee bits, Heath brand.)
4 waffle cone bowls
Scoop ice cream into 4 balls; freeze until firm.
Roll ice cream balls in crushed toffee bars; freeze until firm.
To serve, place ice cream balls in waffle bowls. Drizzle topping over ice cream. Yield: 4 servings
(Note: I use caramel or chocolate.)
Source: Brennan, Rebecca & Pickering, Whitney Wheeler, editors. Christmas with Southern Living 1999. Birmingham, Alabama: Oxmoor House, Inc., 1999.
Ugly, black spider-like mold and wet floor joists dampened our enthusiasm. We had no idea destruction lurked behind the sheetrock until my husband removed the kitchen cabinets. Now, instead of creating the beautiful new decor we envisioned, progress halted as we assessed damage from an old pipe that had been secretly leaking.
Home renovation projects are time-consuming and must include thorough cleansing of problem-causing culprits. Heart renovation is the same. Layers of worry, impatience, lack of self-control, jealousy, or other sins can lodge in our hearts like mold spores, then fester and spread into other areas. Unforgiveness can turn into bitterness, and pride can lead to self-centeredness. Sin left hidden can undermine our heart’s foundation.
