Are you looking for Christmas Holiday insights that can help you to celebrate Christmas together in loving, meaningful ways? Are you seeking for “peace on earth” AND peace in your home? Us too! We don’t want to get caught up in all the flashiness of the season and forget WHO we’re really celebrating …JESUS! Flashiness can be fun; but HE is the reason for the season. As Followers of Christ, we celebrate Jesus every day. But this just happens to be the time of year when most people celebrate His birth. So, we go with it, enjoy it, and look for opportunities to spread His message. It can be fun AND meaningful!
But everybody’s celebrating styles are different. And the dynamics of each marriage and family situation can bring different “needs” to the top. So, we’re approaching this Marriage Insight a bit differently. We’re going to give you a lot of links to different Christmas articles we’ve written over the years that highlight various issues families can encounter. Just look over the listed titles and click onto the one(s) that interest you.
Christmas Holiday Insights
For example: How about all the busyness, messiness and stress that seems to pile on so many of us during this season? First, here’s a tip, and then some links to look over:
“When you’re making Christmas plans, remember that your marriage is more important than all the fuss. Make sure you do things to make your marriage smoother, not to put bumps on the road. If that means doing Christmas smaller, do it. But keep the focus where it should be … that we have a loving God who left Paradise to live among us, to make a way for us to live forever with Him.” (Sheila Wray Gregoire)
– Plus –
• Our Messy Christmas – Can You Relate?
Are you battling with unmet expectations? Is the “perfect” (or even a peaceful) Christmas eluding you?
• Are You Satisfied with Christmas?
• Questioning Christmas Celebrations?
Plus:
• Working Through Your Holiday Expectations
And:
• Deconstructing the “Perfect” Christmas to Make it REAL
Perspectives on Priorities
Here are two Christmas Holiday Insights that can help to keep these priorities in perspective:
“During the holidays, it’s easy to slip into a people-pleasing mode to keep everyone happy. … If you find yourselves feeling spread too thin over the holidays, work together with your spouse to figure out what you can adjust (or what you can leave out entirely) in order to protect your boundaries and enjoy the season. Make plenty of time to slow down with your spouse and kids.” (Drs Les & Leslie Parrott)
Also, prayerfully consider:
“What do you want and need to do between now and Christmas? Decide what needs be done and what you’d like to be done and see if it’s realistically going to fit into the days ahead. If it’s not going to fit, cut some thing(s) out and scheduled again. Keep cutting till it all fits. The goal is to NOT be so busy and stressed you miss out on what’s important—God, family, giving to others…” (Paul Byerly)
Christmas Holiday Celebrations with Family and Friends?
And then what about your marriage, family, and extended family? Are you feeling especially challenged in these areas of your life this Christmas season? First, concerning your marriage, here’s something to prayerfully consider:
“Holidays can challenge marriage. It is difficult sometimes to be your real self when the family assembles. The pressures to fall into old roles and to create a perfect holiday combine to force us to do and be what we are not. You may be dismayed at the behaviors that emerge in your husband (wife) in a family setting. He (she) may be equally dumbfounded by yours. Rather than struggle through, realize that you have a choice: You can work to maintain your real selves within the holiday chaos; or you can opt to get together with family at other, less charged, times. Where families fall into particularly toxic patterns, the latter may be the only option.” (Toni Sciarra Poynter)
Links to Helpful Christmas Holiday Insights?
• Reduce Marital Tension This Christmas
• 10 Tips to Ensure Your First Christmas Together Isn’t Your Last
Additionally:
• The Christmas Season Can Be Hard on Relationships
When it comes to family gatherings during the Christmas holidays, remember:
“The leave and cleave principle as given in the Bible, in practical terms at the holidays, means that we take into consideration what’s good for our spouse. We stand up for our spouse if a family member gets out of line and we don’t ask our spouse to be someone they’re not at family gatherings. And, it goes without saying, we don’t treat our spouse differently in front of our family than at other times.” (Lori Byerly)
With that said, here are several more Christmas Holiday Insights:
• Discuss Family Holiday Celebrations with Your Spouse
• Reducing Stress at Family Gatherings
And then, who doesn’t need a good tip or more to help you smooth out those Holiday wrinkles? Here are a variety of Christmas tip links to glean through and use what will work for your marriage:
Plus:
• Christmas Tips: Surviving Holidays
Additionally, let’s not forget to enjoy our family gatherings. Are you looking for a few games, quizzes, and such to share with others as you and your spouse celebrate with others (or maybe just with the two of you)? And then there are gifts to give. Here are a few links that include all of that:
Did you say gifts?
• The GIFT
And then last, but most importantly:
Let’s put our focus on the One we SHOULD celebrate (now and all year round):
• Surviving Christmas – Focusing Simply on Christ
• Missing the Christmas Message
And then:
So, you know who you are to focus on, the message you are to live out, and your Christmas mission. But many of you find all that difficult because your marriage is a wreck. We’re thinking the last link here is for you. Pray, read, glean, and see what God tells you to do:
We pray these insights are enlightening and helpful to you. But no matter where you are in your marriage and outside relationships, please know that God wants to come in and work within your heart and life. We hope you will pray and prepare room for Him. You will find this to be life changing. It has been for us, and we pray it will be for you.
Cindy and Steve Wright
— ADDITIONALLY —
To help you further, we give a lot of personal stories, humor, and more practical tips in our book, 7 ESSENTIALS to Grow Your Marriage. We hope you will pick up a copy for yourself. (It’s available both electronically and in print form.) Plus, it can make a great gift for someone else. It gives you the opportunity to help them grow their marriage. And who doesn’t need that? Just click on the linked title or the picture below:
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