Keeping Christmas Well AND Keeping Your Sanity Intact

I love Christmas. All of it. I love the lights, the tree and the gifts. I love the food, the music and most of the time, I even love Christmas Cards. I love the season of Advent, the candles, the carols, the Blue Christmas Service and of course, ALL the Christmas Eve services. I love Christmas.

What I don't love is the way that Christmas can run over us. I don't like feeling manipulated to do things I don't like to do, spend for things I don't want to spend, and somehow live under the oppression of unrealistic expectations.  Sometimes, Christmas feels less like a wonderful holiday and more like an impersonal, ravenous machine. I don't like the Christmas Machine.

It is the mix of both, my love of the Christmas Season and my distaste for the Christmas Machine, that prompted a workshop that we did many years ago at New Hope and are bring back again. It is called,  Unplug the Christmas Machine. It is from 9:00-Noon on Saturday, November 3.

The title and much of the material comes from a book by the same title that has been around for decades. I am amazed every time I go through the material how relevant and useful it is. I won't be teaching it alone. I am teaming up with Betsy Nachand, our Preschool Director and Jami Lewis, our Director of Children's Ministry.  They will have special break-out sessions for parents of Preschool and Elementary aged children. While they do that, I'll take some time to talk about ways of celebrating Christmas with those who don't have children in the house.

When we are together, we'll explore things that affect all of us. We'll do a fun survey of some of the traditions of Christmas and how we got them. We'll talk about the roles and expectations of Christmas. There are some strategies that have proved helpful for how to keep Christmas well while keeping your sanity intact.

 Most people are surprised that they don't have to overhaul Christmas in order to enjoy it. It is amazing how a few tweaks can make such a difference. The biggest change comes because we are becoming intentional about Christmas and the way we want to celebrate it, rather than just reacting to it. There is no cost and childcare is available on request. Mark your calendars now! In fact, you can register now, by clicking here.

Its a fast, fun and helpful three hours. Plan to come and make this Christmas a great one.

NOTE:  It was from earlier "Unplug the Christmas Machine" classes that we realized a special workshop for those who are going through times of loss. We dropped the "Unplugged" workshop and created the workshop called, "Grief in the Holidays". We haven't eliminated that workshop. Grief in the Holidays will be held on Saturday, November 17.  More details about that in the future.