I love Christmas. I love the cooler weather, the warm clothes, warm coffee, and snuggling under blankets with family. I love buying gifts, wrapping gifts, giving gifts, attending Christmas Eve service, being with family, and watching Christmas movies. Yet, let’s be honest ladies…Christmas for moms (or women in general) can be STRESSFUL. As if we don’t already have enough to do, let’s pile on a whole bunch of shopping, baking, cooking, decorating, dinner parties, and traveling. Ummmm…. if I added any of that to a regular week then I am overwhelmed but add it all in one month?? Come on now…where did my sanity go?
Now, I looove LOOKING at beautiful decorations but honestly, I don’t want to spend that much on decor. I am not even quite sure what to buy when I do have decorating money. So, we continue to use the same decorations year after year. My boys don’t seem to mind and I think it looks decent when I am done. But, I always feel that my decorations are a little, let’s say, less than magazine perfect. I never quite feel like my house has “grown up” decorations (and I’m almost 40). It used to be (back before Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) that I would only feel bad when I went to someone else’s home that was beautifully decorated. Now, however, I can feel inadequate just by checking my social media feed. Not only that, there is so much more to feel bad about…my deficient baking skills, I’m not done with my shopping yet, I didn’t get the best deals during Black Friday, my presents won’t have ribbons or bows, my Christmas cards aren’t done, I have no regular daily Christmas activity planned for the kids, and no elf comes to visit in cleverly cute ways.
It is honestly comical how we put so much pressure on ourselves during this time of year. I mean what is the point? Who are we pleasing? What are we celebrating??? Comparison is evil! Perfection is unrealistic and unattainable. Life happens in the mess. Mistakes forge memories that bond us together in our humanity. When we share only our achievements and not our mistakes, we don’t connect. We miss each other. We feel alone.
Not only that, if we were perfect…we wouldn’t need Jesus. Isn’t that the whole point of this time of year anyway? Because of our imperfection and brokenness, Jesus was born to be the perfection we constantly strive for. In Jesus, I am completely perfect! So I am free to embrace my human imperfections (of which there are so many…ask my kids and husband). So this Christmas, I am going to enjoy each moment, the great ones and the bad ones. The great ones are a glimpse of eternity when all is made new and the bad ones are a reminder of my need for Jesus!
So celebrate the season and do what you want to do. No comparing! Your version of Christmas for your family is just right!
Let’s share our imperfections together this Christmas and have a Not Perfect Christmas. Let’s really connect and be real on social media. Let’s proclaim our imperfections loud so Jesus’ perfection is magnified!
Find me @counseling4hope #notperfect!
Here’s my first imperfect social media post:
We made an awesome Christmas budget spreadsheet that we password protected because my kids use this computer. Ummm…yep, we forgot the password. #notperfect #Christmas
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