So I'm not going to lie, I'm not entirely ready to enter this crazy holiday season. Thanksgiving completely snuck up on me and quite frankly overwhelmed me. Now, Christmas is my favorite holiday, hands down. I love everything about it: the music, the decorations, and the over-all feeling of kindness and giving. I love getting to teach new generations not only about Santa Claus and Christmas lights but about the birth of Jesus and all the possibilities He brought.
With all that said, though, this year I'm just not in a place that's ready to celebrate. Hard to admit, but I'm still struggling with grief over the sudden passing of my grandmother. We had so many plans that always included her and it's really difficult to find the joy amongst the sadness as I continue these plans, minus one.
I've been toying around with the idea of doing a "random acts of kindness" plan for Christmas after seeing the Pinterest world blow up with tons of fun ideas about it, and this year I thought it would be a great way to change some of my grief into joy not just for others, but for myself.
So I set out on a search through Pintrest-dom to find the best idea that would work for my life, but also force me out of my comfort zone a little bit. I found the blog of a mom who was seeking to put a little bit of Jesus back in to Christmas for her family and came up with a beautiful movement idea not only for her own family, but for families everywhere. Light Em Up You can read all about her back story here. Her plan basically involved not judging each other on what moments and memories we capture as families during the holidays, but finding the true meaning of Christmas together and spreading that. We sadly live in a world that is all about the material, I mean our black Friday starts Thursday afternoon now-a-days, and it can't be a bad idea to start spreading a new idea.
I'm seeking to choose 12 items from the Light Em Up 2012 list of 100 suggested activities to perform in the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Here's the list
I'm so beyond excited for this and I want to keep you all updated every week (so this is also a new challenge for me haha). I also really want you guys to consider joining me in this! Choose anything from the list and help me spread a little joy and hope of the true meaning of this beautiful holiday season.
No really, I'm serious, I want to encourage you guys to try this too! I know the season is busy and stressful, but really isn't that the problem? Christmas isn't supposed to be filled with guilt over parties we didn't attend or shame about traditions we don't perform. It's about the birth of hope that would grow into the only thing that would save the world not just from "the devil" but from ourselves.
I have a feeling that if we let go of some of these obligations that are weighing us down and opening ourselves up to give to others, we will not only experience a holiday season like we could only imagine, but also bleed into vast opportunities for God to continue to change us and those around us.
If you really don't feel like you're capable of participating in this, I would love for you guys to encourage and pray for me instead. I know that this will be a great challenge for me to drop some obligations and carve some time out and I don't want to fall off the wagon half way through haha, so if you think about it, send me some love and supportive thoughts ;)
I really appreciate all of you who read my crazy ramblings, and I can't wait to celebrate this season with you!
<3 ME
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