It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The…

Year? Well I happen to think so, but I don’t think very many other people think so, or at least they don’t act like it. It seems like more and more every year people are getting grumpier and grumpier when it comes to the holidays. Whether it’s waiting in long lines (hey, I hate that too!) or the item they’re looking for isn’t in stock, or the coffee they ordered wasn’t just perfect (first world problems, right?!) whatever it is, it seems like there is something that’s making them forget that it really is the most wonderful time of year.

I love Christmas. I absolutely, positively, 100% love Christmas! I feel like Buddy the Elf, that’s about how much I love Christmas!! There isn’t any other holiday that even comes close, maybe Easter? Maybe. But Christmas, ahhhhh. The cooler weather, the Christmas tree, the Christmas lights, hot chocolate, the possibility of snow, Christmas movies, Christmas cards, candy canes, the time spent with family (most of the family 😝) and of course celebrating our Lord and savior Jesus! Oh Christmas. And it’s only 37 days away!

So why does such a joyous holiday and time of year make people so unhappy and catch a bad case of the bah humbugs?! I really don’t know. I guess you could even say why are people so miserable in general? They probably could use a little 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminder. (Remember yesterday’s post? 😊) I’m not saying, by any means, I’m not grouchy or have this whole joyful thing down pat. Trust me. I don’t. Especially when I get around a certain family member, she’s quite a gem, and she certainly doesn’t make it any easier to be joyful. In fact, it’s like I walk into a room and my loving kindness gets sucked completely from my brain and because I’ve just been sucked clean, I totally forget I need to be the bigger person and love like Jesus does, it’s awful. It’s hard to always be happy and filled with joy (1 Thessalonians 5-like) but we need to remember happiness, love, and joy aren’t just feelings, they are also actions.

Actions. We need to be acting happy, joyful, and loving. Quite frankly whether we feel like it or not. It’s not about us, it’s about Jesus (it always is!). He loves us unconditionally. When we are cranky, grouchy, icky sinners. If he can love us when we act like we do, we should be able to get over our silly petty issues pretty quickly. But how?! How can we do this?! How do we not get our kindness sucked from right out of our brains?! By praying. Praying. Praying. Praying! I’m pretty sure that’s why the bible tells us to pray continually! God knows we need to be praying! I love how our pastor puts it. – The best thing you can do for someone you don’t like, is to pray for them. Whether they change or not, God will change our hearts towards them. – Oh how true that is!

This holiday season as Christmas gets closer and closer let’s remember to be joyful always and to be praying continually! Don’t let your kindness get sucked out! Maybe it’ll rub off on others – the cranky bah humbugers! And even if it doesn’t, we’ll know we are doing it for the Lord! 1 Corinthians 10:31 …whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (NLT)

Blessings 💛 Sarah