69. Is This Really The Season To Be Jolly?

Christmas is less than four weeks away! I’m not quite sure how that happened, but here we are. In today’s episode we pause to ponder this season and we ask the question, “It this really the season to be jolly?” Because in past years, maybe it hasn’t been. In past years maybe it’s been anything but jolly. But this year can be different. If you’re looking for some hope and encouragement in this season, well, this episode is for you.

Is This Really the Season to Be Jolly? | woman wrapping Christmas gifts with head in hands looking frustrated

I’ll let you in on a little secret:

Christmas is my favorite.

By far, hands down, it’s my favorite holiday. I still get all giddy and excited for Christmas. Everything about it permeates my heart with joy. And the season leading up to it fills me with anticipation and wonder.

Yet, sadly, I’ve been known to miss Christmas altogether. Yes, someone who loves Christmas has been known to miss it altogether. Oh, I was physically present, but some years distractions snatched my attention away from what was important, and I missed the significance of the season. Other years I hustled and bustled to the point I ended up sick on Christmas. And the year my mom died ten days before Christmas was heartbreaking. Needless to say, it was difficult to celebrate that year.

But through all these experiences, I learned many lessons. One is this:

I never want to miss Christmas again.

I assume you don’t want to miss it, either.

And maybe you’re like me. You’ve missed your fair share of Christmases, and you know how it feels. And you never want to feel that way again.

But the thing is, Christmas was never meant to be a holiday to stress us out. It’s not to distract us. And it’s certainly not here to increase our loneliness or sadness. We look at why in this episode.

Because isn’t this the season to be jolly?

The famous Christmas carol, Deck the Halls, says it is. We hear the words, we may even sing them, but do we live them out? We sometimes replace the “season to be jolly” with other words, such as stressed, broke, exhausted, overwhelmed.

But this year I’m returning to the heart of the holiday now. An I invite you to join me. I invite you to bring back the jolly with me in this season to be jolly.

Click on the player above to listen to the full 15-minute episode.

Maybe this will be the year Christmas will be a little more peaceful, a little less stressed, and a whole lot more joyful. And maybe in this season to be jolly we’ll experience a closeness to our Savior we’ve not quite experienced before. Because isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Celebrating the hope we have through Jesus? Let’s return our hearts to the reason for the season.

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