This has been a rough year for me. I will share more on that in another post. As the Christmas season approached, I knew that I could not go in to the season with the wrong attitude because if I did, it could have dire consequences. I’m not one who normally gets in the “holiday spirit”. I call myself scrooge and my Facebook profile picture is the Grinch during this season. I often change radio stations to avoid the Christmas music. I even had someone give me “coal” one year for Christmas. I knew that I had to do something to pull myself out of the doldrums and to try to acquire the holiday spirit in the midst of darkness.
At my full time job, they have not decorated, or done anything for the season for the last several years. We have been working overtime most of the year and I knew people were tired, and the holidays could just add to the despair. I set out to have a little something for the holidays in my office. Nothing big, just a symbol of Christmas and a small nativity scene. So I got a small tree and some battery operated LED lights for it and a small nativity scene. As we were preparing to leave the store, I saw a small battery operated holiday train that I “had” to get. The following Monday, I placed the train, the tree, and the nativity scene in my office.
As co-workers stopped by my office, they noticed the small attempt at some holiday spirit and they said that the tree needed to be inside the train tracks. Then it was too bare. Slowly my small attempt at bringing some holiday cheer to the office grew into a small Christmas village. The picture below shows what the Christmas village looked like as of this morning (it is ever-growing).
This Christmas village has been much more therapeutic than I imagined it might. My feeble attempt to get in the holiday spirit and bring some holiday cheer to the office is working. Not just for me, but for other co-workers as well.
Much like in our Christian journey. If we want to remain full of joy, then we must trust God and remained focused on Him. We must not grow weary as Paul wrote in Galatians 6:9 (NKJV):
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
At my job, I began to lose heart. I knew that I needed to refocus. The Christmas village has been very therapeutic for me, but I had to be intentional about it.
We need to be intentional with our relationship with God as well. So often we can lose focus, especially during the holidays. We need to remember that:
… those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:31, NKJV)
Take time this holiday season, and throughout the year, to rest and focus on Him. Don’t grow weary, don’t be discouraged. Be intentional to focus on God. I know… easy to say, not always easy to do.
I pray that you are able to find the holiday spirit in the darkness.
Merry Christmas Bill