an uncluttered Christmas
Dozens of gifts crowd the base of the tree. There’s no need for a tree skirt when you have this many presents! A confetti of red bows, snowflake studded wrapping paper, and green tissue paper hide the contents. It will take over two hours to unwrap everything on Christmas morning.
I stare at the extravagance in a mixture of amusement and horror. When you have seven siblings and each of you get gifts for one another, the stuff compiles quickly. The mound of gifts mirrors the mountain of anxiety I feel during this most beautiful of seasons. The stress of trying to find the perfect thing for each person. The overcrowded schedule that makes my soul feel shriveled and overwhelmed. The list of Christmas activities I feel pressured to complete in order to “make the most” of this short season.
//
Later, I find myself signed up to sing at several Christmas events. As the day rolls around, I wake in the morning dreading the evening’s scheduled activities. I can’t help but feel there must be more to Christmas than this. I’m singing about making room in my heart for Jesus, but my heart feels so overstuffed with extracurriculars and aesthetics that there’s no room for anything else.
I develop a sore throat and cold, limping my way through the Christmas season in poor health. I want to rejoice and celebrate, but I am so tired and all I want to do is curl up in bed, drink Neocitran, and watch reruns of Monk. It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but I just feel weary and burdened with lists.
//
Matthew writes in his gospel,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
How I long for that deep soul rest. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices. Christmas shouldn’t feel cumbersome, so why does it so often feel that way?
For so long, my Christmases have followed the pattern I described above: I am overloaded, overwhelmed, and hyper-focused on productivity and experiences. Last year, reflecting on the embarrassing amount of gifts my family typically purchased and opened on Christmas morning, I had a long, honest talk with my mum and sisters.
Together, we came up with a plan: in lieu of the usual overwhelming amount of gifts underneath the tree, we decided we would save money and time and only give stocking gifts to each other. Small items, cheaper items, and instead focus on giving more to others, spending quality time with each other, and generally minimizing the overwhelm we tended to feel this time of year.
And guess what? This uncluttered Christmas shift worked wonders for my soul. At the cusp of a new Christmas season, I feel weary. I feel de-energized thinking about making this season special. So if you too feel tired at the thought of Christmas, you’re not alone!
Here are some of my favorite ways we downsized our Christmas last year and some of what we’re doing this year to make more room for Jesus, others, and rest!
Stocking Stuffers Instead of Large, Extravagant Gifts
Oh my goodness! This has made such a big difference! Instead of buying a large present for each family member AND stuffing their stocking full of little goodies, we started buying only one, much smaller gift and filling stockings rather than flooding the base of the tree. It really downgrades the pressure because you don’t have to purchase something extravagant. And you only need one small thing that your loved one will appreciate! It helps take the focus off of the gifts and center it on Christ, generosity, and loving others well with presence instead of presents.
A Christmas Baking Day
Last year marked the first Christmas baking day and it was so much fun. We picked recipes for three or four Christmas treats, gathered together, and baked a horde of goodies! We then packaged these baked items and delivered them to the homes of our neighbours. It was such a fun activity to do together and it resulted in sweet gifts to share with our community. What a win-win!
3. Scheduling Lots of Time at Home + Activities We Actually Love
Lars and I drafted a Christmas list at the end of November. As we were doing so, I felt the urge to add all sorts of things I’d seen people doing this time of year: going to see the lights, drinking hot chocolate around a roaring bonfire, tobogganing parties, volunteering at a soup kitchen, etc. However, as we pondered what to add, I realized that I didn’t necessarily want to do all those things. I only have margin for so much.
We crafted our list based on things we truly want to do. We scheduled lots of time at home. We planned for lots of restful evenings, with or without friends, cozied up and drinking tea. We added only things we wanted to invest in. The holiday season can become cluttered with things that nobody even wants to do anyway, they’re just traditional! While I am all for thoughtful traditions, ditch the ones that only bring stress and overwhelm to your life and exchange it for meaningful rest.
My goal this December was to do one little Christmassy thing per day. I’m already failing, but it has taken the pressure off a lot. Listening to a Christmas song you love counts. Turning on the Christmas lights counts. Drinking a festive beverage counts. It doesn’t have to be this big ordeal!
4. Making Homemade Gifts
This year, I want to make gifts for my coworkers. Last year, I didn’t give them anything because the thought of buying something for everyone overwhelmed me. But this year, I want to make them bath salts because it’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s usable, so it’s not just another item to gather dust in the home. Making homemade gifts also says a lot, because you have to utilize your valuable time to make them.
The recipe for these bath salts is coming next week, so keep your eyes peeled!
5. Saving Money on Christmas Decor by Buying it Off-Season
This also helped me with Christmas overwhelm because I didn’t have copious amounts of decor I felt pressured to put up. Savings in time and money! How can you go wrong there? You can also find a lot of beautiful Christmas decorations at thrift stores before spending hundreds on overpriced items at Winners!
6. Buying a Potted Christmas Tree to Downsize on the Christmas Madness
Lars and I purchased a potted Norfolk pine from Home Depot at the beginning of November. Initially, when we decorated it, I felt we’d been gypped. The tree is very small and unassuming. I actually cried when I saw it because it felt so unobtrusive and minimal. However, as Lars reminded me, having this small tree can be a visual reminder to stay humble and keep our focus on Christ instead of Christmas decorations. (And if you have a big tree, no judgement here! I don’t feel a particular conviction either way, but it is nice to have a smaller tree to help my own heart).
7. Participating in Advent
I’m a big fan of Hannah Brencher’s advent series. I’ve done it for several years now. It continually proves to be invaluable in realigning my heart with the Biblical Christmas account. Somehow this “looking foward” to the coming of the King slows me down, something I desperately need.
(In an ironic twist, I have actually been feeling overwhelmed by Hannah’s advent series this year. I wrote this piece last week on a writing date with a friend, and clearly, things have changed. That being said, I do love the practice of advent… Another friend, Deidre Braley, wrote a beautiful journey through advent that I am focusing on this year!)
8. Listening to a Christmas Playlist of Songs I Truly Love
In previous years, I’ve compiled a giant Christmas playlist with 11 hours of songs. However, listening to this playlist is exhausting because I don’t even like many of the songs on the list and constantly find myself skipping mediocre ones. This Christmas, I’m drafting a new list of my favorites so I can relax and enjoy the music I’m listening to.
What about you? What are your favorite Christmas traditions? What are you going to do this season to make room in your heart for Jesus?
