I posted a short IG post on this topic, but I wanted to expound upon it here.
And let me reiterate (as I did on IG), that I do not mean to offend or hurt anyone's feelings in any way. These are my own thoughts and opinions.
I do not start decorating for Christmas until the weekend after Thanksgiving. It's a rule in our house. Yes, I know that may sound Scrooge-ish, but hear me out.
The last few years the stores have gone crazy with putting Christmas stuff out. Some stores start having Christmas decorations out in July. It's gotten a little bit ridiculous. But my theory is that it's more marketing than anything else. As a society, nowadays, we need that feeling of joy that Christmas brings to look forward to. As we should. We should look forward to Christmas. It should just be for the right reasons. (And I'm not saying anyone is doing it for the wrong reasons.)
So let me ask you this...
What if we spent the month of November teaching thankfulness
to our children (and ourselves)? What if we didn’t just jump right into
Christmas and the feel goods it brings and practice intentional thankfulness
going into the Christmas season? How much more special would Christmas be going
into it with a truly thankful attitude?
These are questions I have pondered for some time now. And I
know that it’s not a popular opinion. But when we’re thankful, we tend
to find the joy in everyday life because we realize how well we have things or
how far we have come despite life’s circumstances.
This year has been one of a lot of transitions for us. We sold our house back in August and have been living fulltime at our land in our camper and a 12'x32' shed we converted to have a full-size kitchen, a full-size bathroom, and room for a dining table and desk space. It's small and tight with 6 people. And it's starting to get hard. The clutter quickly overtakes and I feel like I am constantly getting rid of things to make room. We can't have very many people over a time because we can't fit everyone inside. It's all starting to get to me.
I want to host and entertain. I want to have all of my books on shelves instead of in boxes in storage. I want to have more than 3ft of counter space.
But the Lord is teaching me to be thankful. Thankful we have the extra 3ft of counter space and a full-size stove. Thankful we were able to sell our house quickly to be able to build our new house. Thankful that my boys have 5 acres of land to run around and play instead of only 1/4 of an acre.
Those are the things I want to carry into the Christmas season. That our Christmas may look different this year (I have no idea where I'm going to put our Christmas tree), but that we are still together as a family and that we have a lot to be thankful for this year.
So our Christmas tree will go up sometime after Thanksgiving. And until then, we will be thankful.
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