I almost made a big mistake this season, y’all (I threw that in for Adrienne and our southern friends)! What was this mistake, you ask? I almost let some of the wonderful joy of this time of year be tarnished by that old familiar joy stealer: COMPARISON.
Here is how the situation unfolded: I am friends on Facebook with a woman I don’t know who makes stunning jewelry with uplifting messages. She is positive, humble, beautiful, and blessed financially. I like her Facebook stories because they always make me feel uplifted and happy. A couple of weeks ago, she did a story talking about how busy she was this Christmas with her booming business and family concerns and she didn’t think she would have time to decorate her lovely home for Christmas. To remedy her situation, she invited several close friends to help her accomplish her Christmas decorating. You guys, she had like five friends helping and it took hours! She had so many amazing pieces to display and her tree was breathtaking. Every angle of her home was perfection.
As I sat there, I started thinking about how it took my family an hour or two to decorate, including putting up the tree and hanging each ornament. I thought about how certain areas of my home have had the same decor in the same spot every Christmas we have lived here. I started thinking about the fact that certain areas in our home have no Christmas decor at all! The horror! I am ashamed to say I started to lose sight of every wonderful blessing and started to focus on what I lacked. I wallowed for a minute or two or five.
Then I snapped out of my selfishness and remembered that Christmas is not about the decor at all, no matter how elaborate or beautiful it is. Christmas is about Jesus, family, love, and the joy of giving. I looked around my home and was so grateful my 21-year-old daughter made a darling gingerbread house this season. I was so happy to see our Mickey Mouse ornament hanging that we bought during a memorable and thrilling trip to Disneyland several years ago (and how my kids love that ornament so much, it is considered an honor to get to hang it). I looked at the wooden Merry Christmas garland that my sweet mother-in-law made us several years ago and it hangs so perfectly in front of my bottle brush display that makes me so happy every year. And suddenly I just felt so blessed and happy. I hope you feel that way, too, this season. A wonderful Christian influencer, Amy Weatherly, said “The first Christmas was pretty simple, it’s okay if yours is, too.”
Merry Christmas!
From Utah, Alexa
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