peace

We finally faced the dreaded task last weekend and cleaned out the loft.

It was pretty miserable, dusty, dirty work but it needed to be done. With children coming and going, moving in and moving out, the loft was filled to the brim with all sorts and it had become impossible to locate the last few Christmas decorations. So, I announced a family work day with the promise of pizza reward.

If your family is anything like ours, clutter is a constant battle. As soon as you clear a surface in the house, it seems to instantly become a magnet for keys, post, phones and pretty much anything else that needs a home.

And there are other kinds of clutter. We can pile up unmade decisions or unresolved conflicts. Too many commitments or projects can squeeze the life out of our routines until they are joyless. And of course, worries, fears and negative thoughts often clutter our minds and drown out God’s voice.

Don’t be fooled, clutter is nothing but a thief. It steals our time and our attention, clogging up closets and minds. It distracts and derails us. It burdens us and pulls us down.

And, Christmas is no exception.

When clutter fills our holidays, what is really important can disappear under a pile of festive jumble.

But we can fight it if we want to.

And we can start by saying no. Over Christmas the invitations are endless. So is the list of things we think we ‘have to do’. It is impossible to do it all so we must learn to be selective. What is most important and what can you just leave out this year? What gives you joy and fills you up? What do you dread? There are, of course, responsibilities and commitments that are non-negotiable but there are also things we do that are unnecessary and just serve to wear us out. I love receiving Christmas cards but I find it very hard to organize myself to send them, so I don’t. For years the kids and I would have a big all day baking marathon. It was so much fun but now they are all working and busy so we had to let it go. My girlfriends and I often wait until January for a big get-together. It is a fun event to look forward to and one less item to fit into the Christmas calendar. What can you leave out this year or reschedule for the New Year that will free up some time and space in your schedule and in your heart?

Then, resist the hype. Every advert on the television, daytime tv slot or magazine cover tells you that Christmas has to be perfect and that it has to be expensive. Don’t listen, it isn’t true. It is meaning that makes celebrations special, not matching baubles or a perfect party outfit. Most of my decorations are quite old now, but they are filled with memories, like the mugs that Paul and I were given on our first Christmas after we were married or the Christmas quilt the women in my family made together years ago.

So, this year, look the culture square in the eye and swim upstream. De-emphasize perfection and acquisition. Emphasize the unseen virtues of tradition and generosity of spirit. Be different. Celebrate Christmas in a way that gets you noticed. Travel light and be a light.

And learn to love simplicity. Christmas lunch doesn’t need dozens of side dishes. It really doesn’t. Streamline it down to the most popular elements. Make the table pretty and then enjoy. If you really love baking and have time then go for it, but if not, don’t sweat. I now make just three cookie recipes every year and then I buy stolen and Italian panettone. That’s it. Boring maybe, but it saves me overspending and overeating and frees up time to just be with people I love. I don’t need to be a martyr to an endless supply of baked goods or a gourmet lunch.

The key with Christmas is to include what is important and then to be brave enough to let the unnecessary go.

So, think before you buy. As we are trying to clear our own lives of clutter, let’s not contribute to anyone else’s. Spend much more time thinking about what to give and less time walking around the shops, dazed and desperate. I find myself favouring gifts that are perishable much more now and I try and avoid anything that will need storage or dusting. Gourmet food, toiletries, candles or gift vouchers for activities like the cinema have become my go-to’s. If in doubt, just ask and save yourself from wasteful guesses. Let’s be honest, most of us don’t need any more knick-knacks.

Then, make time for quiet. In order to enjoy the spiritual aspects of this season, we have to make room to think and to meet with God. I like to get up early before my young adults have emerged, and sit by the tree with my Bible. There is something so important about worshipping first before the craziness of the day starts. I also take any chance I am given to get outside and just walk. I have learned this tip from the British and there is no better way to balance out the overdose of chocolates and mince pies. A brisk walk somewhere beautiful is a very good way to clear mental clutter. It can put things in perspective and still our souls. Without these moments of escape, we run the risk of starting the New Year with ragged emotions and tired hearts.

And finally, make space for loving people. Over Christmas, we will inevitably be spending time with people we find difficult or with whom we have a strained relationship or just clashing personalities. Instead of accepting the awkwardness and enduring it, how about approaching it with prayer? Praying now for those we will be seeing over the holidays in the days leading up to our get-togethers is so powerful. It makes space in our hearts for love for family members or colleagues and it has the power to change and heal situations.

People are what matters, so make relationships the priority.

Decide today that Christmas will be clutter free. Be brave enough to let the tinsel go and fill the days with only the good stuff.

Enjoy it. Do what you love. Do what matters. Play games and laugh. Kiss your husband. Be generous with words and smiles and time and attention. Read the Chrismas story. Wonder at His love for humanity. Weep at His love for you.

The recipe for a good Christmas isn’t rocket science. Start every day with worship and end it with gratitude. And, fill the middle with love.

For as long as I can remember I have been head-over-heels in love with summer.

All my vivid childhood memories are summer ones. Even now I can remember the taste of the blueberry ice cream I enjoyed while watching ocean sunsets and the fresh corn on the cob my grandmother would make for dinner. I can smell the pine trees that framed our Colorado camping spot and the pink calamine lotion that calmed my poison ivy rash.

One unforgettable summer we had a month-long road trip and we visited several national parks. Each day’s driving would end in a different KOA swimming pool before I would fill a scrapbook with ticket stubs and postcards.

As a teenager, there were hot July days spent floating down the creek behind our house, baseball games and endless attempts to tan freckly skin.

Becoming a parent only deepened my love affair. Maybe it is because I am not naturally a routine person, but I could hardly wait until my children were done with school for the year. I just loved the lazy days of August with pyjamas until lunchtime, trips to parks and pools, and backyard shenanigans until the light faded. No homework or school uniforms, just lemonade and flip-flops.

This year has been unusual for the UK with little or no rain for months. We have had weeks of humid, hot days that start before we wake up and end long after we have gone to bed. And I have loved every minute.

You see, my kids are all grown up and I am counting down to my daughter’s wedding in October. My husband has been facing the toughest work pressure of his entire career. The days are full, the emotions are high and the temptation to worry is relentless.

But there is something about summer, something about the sunshine and the long days that remind me that there is a remedy for mother-of-bride fretting.

The remedy is rest.

And really isn’t that why we love summer so much? Isn’t that why vacations are so often the highlight of our year and our sweetest memories often involve sand and swimming and bare feet?

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It is because deep inside our hearts, we long for rest. Not a nap or a late morning start, but God’s rest. His rest is an inside-your-soul kind of summer where life feels carefree because daddy has got it all in His hands. It is permission to laugh and to play and to let go of what you can’t control.

It is an invitation to enjoy being a child of God every day, in every circumstance.

We were, of course, created for that kind of rest. Adam and Eve tasted it in the garden and they didn’t appreciate what they had until they lost it.

We know that one day we will enjoy again this God-given gift. And it won’t be a harp playing, floating-on-clouds rest. It will be an ‘it is finished’, death-swallowed-in-victory rest.

But what I so often forget is that this victory rest is actually available to me now, even as I sit in my garden writing wedding to-do lists and dreading my empty nest.

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When life wears me out, when the future looks scary or when decisions overwhelm me, there is a place underneath God’s wings that is forever summer.

I will find that place today, put my toes in the sand and enjoy being His kid.