This question came from Pamela on our Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page today:

My family had a wonderful, unexpected week long visit by a family member from out if state. Now I’m scrambling to tie up loose ends and it feels overwhelming. Any suggestions on how to complete my decorating , shopping and errands while keeping the spirit of Christmas? I feel like all of my planning was just not good enough and I’m trying not to feel discouraged.

As soon as I read it, I knew I had to write this post that’s been brewing in me over the past few days anyway.

You see, as much as I’ve planned and prepped and strategized over the past few months and focused on Doing Christmas Well with our MLC community, I still have quite a few items that haven’t been crossed off my To Do list. As Pamela shared, sometimes life pops up with unexpected (and even welcome) surprises and all the planning in the world doesn’t accomodate for the interruptions to our Christmas prep.

For me, I have to admit that Christmas is the very busiest season of the year for me. I put in long hours as someone whose blog focuses on saving money on your Christmas shopping. And while I LOVE helping others stretch their dollars, it can make for a hectic Christmas season no matter how much I plan ahead. I am not complaining about this – it’s just the reality of my life!

So, as a result, this is what met me this past week as I went to tackle my wrapping that hasn’t been done yet:

Confession: I still have some Christmas prep ahead of me. 

So, here is the choice I have to face:

Let my last minute Christmas stresses take the joy out of Christmas. 

or

Find a way to be Okay with the fact that I’m not as prepared for Christmas as I hoped to be. 

This is important, friends.

All of your planning will only sabotage your joy if your expectations for yourself are too lofty. 

Please don’t let that happen. 

Life is full and messy and imperfect – and so Christmas is too. Embrace it. It’s likely that not everything will go according to your timeline. Pat yourself on the back for what you have accomplished and move on.

And so, after thinking through my options, I am committing to choose JOY in the chaos. Want to join me? Here are a few tips on how you can do the same:

1. Write it ALL down.

Get out a piece of paper and a pen and write down everything that still needs to done before 12/25. Then go ahead and cross off anything on your list that is unnecessary. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

2. Make it a party.

Have wrapping to do? Pop in a movie, make yourself a cup of cocoa and enjoy the process. Have friends who’d like to join the party? Even better.

A couple of my friends and I had a little Christmas To Do List party last week. It’s way more fun that way. 

3. Take Shortcuts.

Wrap those gifts in dollar store gift bags, or even better, pillowcases! Have a 2 Hour Christmas Cookie baking party. Have breakfast for dinner (it’s easy!). Find ways to cut corners. You have my permission.

4. Delegate. 

You don’t have to be Super _____ (Mom, Grandma, Dad, Sister, Aunt, fill in the blank.) If there’s something on your list that someone else can do, ask them! (In all honesty, my husband is a better shopper than I am, so I’ve been asking him to be in charge of some of the shopping!)

5. PAUSE to enjoy.

When Christmas is all over, it won’t be the lack of beautiful wrapping that you regret. It will be NOT taking time to savor the moment. Put away the To Do list and read that Christmas book with your kids, watch that favorite Christmas movie, sing Christmas carols, play in the snow, light a candle for Advent, take a ride to look at Christmas lights.  Do it – you won’t regret it.

Hot Cocoa and a Christmas book are always a good idea. 

5. Take note for next year.

Don’t let this year’s stress be in vain. Take note of the things that you want to do differently next year. Like the year I cried on Christmas, let this year make next year better. (There is a section for this in the planner!)

6. Most of all, give yourself grace.

Enough said.

Now pardon me – I have some wrapping to do. Bring it on!

How about you? Do you have any tips to help with last minute Christmas stress?

This past week, my family enjoyed surprising others with random acts of Christmas kindness.

We had a blast leaving little gifts and treasures to be found around town. I loved watching my kids take delight in giving, but I was surprised at something else that I began to feel. Something I didn’t expect.

I was prepared for the experience to be fun – joyful even.

And it most definitely was.

What I did not expect was this stirring in my heart that did not resemble joy.

It started when my husband and I were discussing who the recipient of the grocery store gift card that we had just purchased should be. We scanned the store, carefully analyzing who looked like they could use come Christmas joy – trying not to make eye contact. We considered the woman behind the deli counter. She looked like a hard worker. But what if our surprise wasn’t as exciting to her as we hoped? What if she just thought we were weird when we walked up to the counter and handed her our gift??

Then, as my sons placed their quarters in the gumball machine, I loved picturing the face of a little one – delighted to find this hidden treasure. But then – what if there was actually a temper tantrum involved and our surprise was just another win for a spoiled child? That’s not nearly as much fun to picture.

This feeling that stirred in me was not one of kindness. It was more like fear.

I worried that our gifts would find themselves in the hands of the wrong person. Someone who wouldn’t value them like we hoped.

And, then there was the chance that whoever happened upon our gift of quarters in the laundry room might seize the opportunity and leave none behind for others.

What if those who were meant to be offered a little HOPE this Christmas, instead took advantage of an opportunity meant to be shared with others?

What if our gifts were not received with gratitude?

What if?

At first, I wondered if this fear I was feeling meant that this kind of random giving is wasteful – maybe even unnecessary.

And then this thought struck me:

Grace is risky.

Grace is a gift. And by definition, a gift is something that has not been earned. That type of giving is indeed risky. Possibly even wasteful.

And then this story came to mind.

Years ago, my son – then 5 years old – asked for some potato chips after we had finished a meal – even though he hadn’t finished his dinner. That night, for whatever reason, I chose to make an exception to the norm and allow him to eat the chips.

I decided that I could turn this unusual situation into a teachable moment. So I said, “Griffin, do you know what this is called, when you are given something you didn’t really deserve?  It’s grace.”

Griffin nodded, then proceeded to enjoy every last crumb of the chips. When he was done, he turned his blue eyes up to me and said sweetly, “More grace please!”

Isn’t that how we all feel about grace? One serving just isn’t enough.

Truth be told – I am served up heapings of grace every day. I am surrounded by good things that I did nothing to deserve and so often take for granted.

Maybe you have been served up similar graces?

Have a job that pays the bills?

More grace please. 

Have loving and supportive family and friends?

More grace please. 

Good health?

More grace please. 

Have enough money to put some gifts under the tree?

More grace please. 

Have clean running water, a roof over your head and no fear of where the next meal will come?

More grace please. 

Get to enjoy the beauty of yet another sunset?

More grace please. 

Friends – I gobble up grace each day like it’s the whole bag of chips, lick my fingers clean and rarely remember that it is just that.

Grace. A gift.

This kind of grace is offered by the most extravagant giver of them all. The King who risked it all to be born in a stable and rescue the world with His own life. Because He loves us.

There is no greater act of Christmas Kindness than this one. I was surprised by HOPE the day I found it, though I likely did not express nearly enough gratitude and did absolutely nothing to deserve it.

Because this kind of extravagant grace has been served up to me, may I never hold back in passing on kindness, hope, and more grace, please to others. 

Want to transform your Christmas with us? My eBook The Merry Little Christmas Project – Five Words that will Transform your Christmas will help you do that. It comes with a lovely Christmas planner so that you can start simplifying and organizing your Christmas today. Click below to buy now: