God, Chaos and Christmas

I’m not going to say it. You know- “don’t do so much this Christmas season, simplify, don’t get stressed, …” I know you won’t listen. So I’ll do something better. I’ll help you get through it.

Christmas feels like chaos to most mothers but here’s the good news: God does chaos best. Really. When you run around like a crazy woman, many of you feel guilty because the “shoulds” creep in. I should be more spiritual, I should slow down, I should cook better cookies, etc. Then the “shouldn’ts” follow close behind.

“I shouldn’t be so materialistic. I shouldn’t feel so stressed. I shouldn’t be a pill to my family members.” I don’t know which hurts more- the shoulds or the shouldn’ts. How about we ditch them both and be nice to ourselves? I think that’s what God really wants us to do. He wants us to love Christmas because in the midst of our chaos and stress, that’s when He comes closest.

God doesn’t hate us because we spend too much and he doesn’t shame us with guilt over how we feel toward mean family members. He loves us. He wants us- heads full of shoulds and shouldn’ts- to allow Him to give us peace while we fight crowds at the mall, worry about Uncle Al getting drunk Christmas day and as we try to find the perfect gift that will make our kids happy- even if it’s only for 10 minutes.

God is in the middle of it all. So this Christmas, rather than try to swat your stress away, invite God smack into the middle of it. He wants to be there because that’s where the one he loves- you– lives.

Scripture tells is that God breathes on us. He is literally our breath. So try something this Christmas season. When you feel stressed, say “Ya” as you inhale and “Weh” as you exhale. Yah–weh. This is one of God’s Hebrew names. Yahweh is God and it is the breath in our lungs.

Breathe God in and breathe Him out. This is how peace in the midst of chaos comes.