If you pay attention to the noisy media at all, you’ll see hundreds of ways to have the perfect Christmas season. Perfect. Just buy this, do that, wear this, go here, bake these. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I realize how often I have believed the world’s promises. The result? Not a perfect season at all. Just a more stressful one. What if, instead of “perfect,” we strived for “peaceful”? In this post, I’m sharing 8 ideas for a peaceful Christmas season.
No matter your stage of life, it’s so easy to over-complicate this season and end up exhausted and overwhelmed. Plan too many activities. Buy too many gifts. Rack up the credit card totals. Eat too many sweets. Overindulge in this or that or those.
And that’s not what it’s all about.
Embrace Christmas Traditions
Consider the first Christmas. It was simple and ordinary. A baby born in a humble stable. Yet it was extraordinary. He was the Savior who would one day walk to the cross to die for me and for you.
So when we walk through this season of Advent to the manger, let’s see if we make it a peaceful Christmas season with simple intentions. Traditions are important. These are the ties that bind us in a world that is topsy-turvy. Practicing some of the things that our parents and grandparents did helps connect us to our roots. This grounds us.
Many of us remember our childhood Christmases and we long to revisit them. (For some, these memories may not be cherished, and it’s important to recognize this too as you consider traditions.) We have expectations for this holiday season, but too often we don’t consider these thoughtfully. No matter if you are single, married, widowed, a busy family with children, or an empty-nester. What is important to you? What are the traditions that help you keep Christ in Christmas?
Hear the words of Psalm 78.
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD.
And how shall we do this? Here are 8 ideas for a peaceful Christmas season that will help you keep Christ in Christmas. And even if this season is well under way as you read this, it’s okay. Begin where you are.
8 Ideas for a Peaceful Christmas Season
#1. Start the day well.
Yes, it’s tempting to be off and running the minute your alarm blares. So much to do! This is the busiest time of year! But I invite you to pause, to find just a few minutes each morning for quiet, prayer, a devotion, a simple practice.
Martin Luther famously said, ““I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in Prayer.” Wise words.
Trust me (and Luther) on this. If you have let this practice slip away, or if you have never practiced it, try it during this season. Set aside five minutes tomorrow to begin your day with a short devotion and/or prayer. Keep it simple, dear reader. Now is not the time to try to read the Bible in 30 days. If you have time for more, then by all means, dig deeply into an Advent devotion or read all of Luke, but don’t feel the pressure to do this. (And P.S. This is a beautiful practice every day, not just during Advent.)
#2. Begin an Advent Practice.
I am blessed to be part of a church body that celebrates the season of Advent. As a family, we attend mid-week Advent services. It’s a beautiful way to pause in the middle of a hectic week and remember what it’s all about. Keeping Christ in Christmas. Preparing our hearts.
But there are so many ways you can participate in this season and slow down. A simple way is to do an Advent devotion as part of your start to the day. This year I am using an old book which is one of my favorites by Walter Wangerin: Preparing for Jesus: Meditations on the Coming of Christ, Advent, Christmas, and the Kingdom. It was published in 1999 so it’s almost impossible to find a hard copy anymore, but it is currently available on Kindle Unlimited as a free book!
Another practice is to set your table with an Advent wreath. Here’s a good explanation of how this can be part of your family’s practice. I purchased this one last year which is kid-friendly and encourages small ones to participate.
#3. Decorate and bake thoughtfully.
Remember what I said about traditions? Well, here’s where we sometimes get ourselves all in a flurry of unnecessary activity. (Unless you love the crazy?!) It seems that one tradition adds to another and that adds to another and another. Before you know it, you can be weighed down with baking dozens of cookies and pulling out dozens of Christmas bins trying to figure out where you’ll put everything. At the end of the day, you’re exhausted and can’t really remember what this season is all about.
If you approach your decorating and baking with a simple plan, you’ll slow down and keep the focus where it should be. So how best to do this? Ask your family. What cookies do they love? Perhaps you can bake one treat for each. What decorations are needed? Do you love to get a fresh tree? Then make a plan for that. Are you overwhelmed with ornaments? You don’t need to put them all on the tree this year. (And pay attention to the decorations you no longer use. After Christmas is the time to set them aside and perhaps donate or repurpose.)
#4. Learn to say no.
This little two-letter word took me a long time to embrace. No. It’s okay to say no. It’s okay to not do everything. It’s okay to decline a party invitation. It’s fine to say you can’t volunteer for that project or this special activity at work or at church. Set your priorities for this season, and if that is to keep Christ in Christmas, then your busy-ness may get in the way.
For this season, perhaps say no to one thing that you usually do. Then reflect on how this felt. What will you do with the added moments?
#5. Play some good music.
Christmas music has always filled me with joy, especially when I’m in the middle of decorating, baking, wrapping, or cleaning during this season. I love the classics, but I also appreciate the sometimes melancholy hymns that remind me I am waiting for something – for Someone who will dry all our tears and calm our hearts. This is a season of hope, and we wait in the “not yet” of eternity that is to come.
These may be appropriate during your quiet time. Here are a few thoughtful ones you may not have on your playlist yet.
- Mary, Did You Know?
- Of the Father’s Love Begotten
- Comfort, Comfort Ye My People
- Is He Worthy?
- Savior of the Nations, Come
And my very favorite one in several different arrangements.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
#6. Simplify the gift-giving.
It’s too easy to be caught up in the consumerism of the holiday, and (I think) one of the key ideas for a peaceful Christmas season is getting that under control. I’m right there with the rest of you hunting for the Black Friday deals and combing the shopping center for the perfect gifts. If I’m not thoughtful about it, I can get carried away especially these days where all it takes is the “buy now” click on my phone or tablet. That’s simple. But it’s maybe not wise.
Every year, I set the intention to give my family three gifts each because that’s the gifts the Wise Men brought to the Christ child – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I’ll confess that I’m not always a stickler about this, but it’s helpful to have a framework as I head into the shopping season.
Here are a few ways I’ve approached this three-gift idea. A book, a necessity (electric tooth brush), something to wear. Or it could be like this: an experience (tickets, restaurant gift card, travel), something for the home (blankets, towels), a game or a puzzle.
Gift-giving reminds us of the most perfect gift of all – our Lord and Savior. Before we open the gifts on Christmas Day, we begin by reading the Christmas story from Luke 2:1-20.
It’s also helpful to keep track of what you gave to your family and friends. I wrote a whole blog post about how I organize my gift lists here. And if gift-giving is one of the biggest sources of stress for you, I created a simple gift tracker to help you get it out of your head and onto paper. Click here to download it!
#7. Move and rest.
Research shows that daily movement and healthy sleep is so important for our physical and emotional well-being. We hear this so often, it sounds cliche. But I’m here to remind you (and me!) that it’s true. Especially when our days are filled with extra to-do’s like they are now, it’s important to move and then to rest at the end of the day.
Maybe you can’t get your usual gym workouts in, but we all have time to walk around the block, shovel the snow, or even walk up and down your steps a few times. And if you do some of the other suggestions in this post, you may find it easier to turn out the light at a decent time for a good night’s sleep.
#8. Keep Christ in Christmas.
You may look at all these ideas for a peaceful Christmas season and think, “Yeah, it’s all well and good for you to say this. You don’t know what my life is like! But you don’t know about . . . ” That’s true. I don’t.
But I do know what He is like. And yes, He is here for us even when we fail. He is here for us especially when we forget; He is here for us in our comings and goings and overspending and sugar comas; He is here for our regrets and longings, our tears and fears; He is here in the love and forgiveness and sacrifice when He gave up His life on the cross; He is here for us even if we race frantically through this Advent season; He isn’t grading you or me, thankfully. Yet He longs for us to come to Him always.
This is what it’s all about.
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
The Christmas story doesn’t end on December 25.
If you’re longing to carry this sense of peace beyond the rush of Advent—into the quieter days after Christmas Day—I created a gentle 12-day devotional that begins on Christmas Day and continues through Epiphany.
It’s not about doing more. It’s simply an invitation to linger with Christ a little longer than you might be used to.
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