Skip to main content

Fun during the holidays


What makes Christmas time fun?


Is it decorating the tree? Gatherings with family and friends? Singing Christmas carols? Dressing in the sweatshirts and sweaters with pictures of snow scenes that you only wear in December? Showing kindness toward others? Counting down the days before Santa arrives? Exchanging gifts?


All of these things can be fun. In fact, I have participated in all of the above at one time or another. The activities themselves are not necessarily what makes for a fun holiday. In fact, if you look at these things as mere “activities” they can become just another to-do for the already stretched to-do list.


If you look in the dictionary for what “fun” is, two words appear: enjoyment and playfulness. Fun combines the act of play and the feeling of joy. So what makes something “fun” is to approach it with a sense of play and a feeling of joy.


You know why kids look forward to the Christmas season so much? They know how to have fun. They have an inherent sense of joy, and play like nobody’s business! But who makes the rule that after a certain age boys and girls, who have grown to men and women, can no longer have fun? I don’t remember seeing that in the contract…..


So be a kid. Decorate the place. Make popcorn garland for the tree, and eat a few pieces from the string, even if someone is watching. Sing loud, and sing proud. Wear your Santa hat to the grocery store, to the doctor’s office, to work, to Sunday school. Play till your heart’s content, and play some more.


Express your joy. Stop and pause at the manger scene. Kneel down and bow your head and honor the Savior. Yes, kneel, even if it’s in public. Don’t worry – God will send an angel to help you back to your feet. Share with someone how Jesus changed your life. And after you do, do it do it again and again.


For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stories ... We all have one ...

Isaiah 20:2-   At that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot. In this passage God sends Isaiah to give a warning to Israel.   In addition to using words, God instructs Isaiah to do something more.   God instructs him to walk naked and barefoot for three years!    Certainly, Isaiah felt uncomfortable about what he was being called to do, but remained obedient.   The message, Isaiah was delivering far outweighed the embarrassment of being uncovered. Sometimes when we feel the prompting of God’s Spirit to share how Jesus has changed our lives we may feel uncomfortable with what God is asking us to do.   We may feel embarrassed or ashamed to “expose” our past to others for fear that we may be ridiculed or rejected if people knew what we would rather keep hidden.   We all hav...
3 comments
Read more

Great!

Psalm 145:3  Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. All throughout history there have been men and woman who were considered great for one reason or another.   Thomas Edison was a great inventor; Madame Curie, a great scientist; Michael Jordan, a great basketball player.   Those who grew up in the 30’s and 40’s are said to be of the Greatest Generation.   And I can’t forget - Al and Martha Thuente are great parents (I ought to know – they’re mine)!   Usually what makes a person great is his or her accomplishments or reputation of doing good things.   But a person’s deeds and goodness have a limit.   No matter how great someone is, he can   only know so much, can do so much, can give so much, because his wisdom, ability and resources are finite.   Greatness can only be so great.   When we think of God, his greatness is limitless.   Even the greatest of men could not have created...
2 comments
Read more

Cardboard Prison

When I was very young I would often sit in a corner and think.  It wasn’t because I was in trouble – I was just a very introspective kind of person, even as a child.  And often my dad would ask, “What are you doing, Mary?”  “Oh, just thinking.”  “What are you thinking about?”  “Ooh, nothing…”   “Well, how do you know when you’re finished?”  and I’d usually let out a little giggle, and be off to do something else. It is often said that the times that people are most reflective about their lives    is during times of stillness, when in the quiet all they have is their thoughts.   Imagine with me if you will, that we are peering into thoughts of someone who is in that place of reflection.   Now before we go there, let me say that this person whose thoughts we are about to delve into IS NOT ME.   It is a fictional person we’ll call Alex.   Alex can be representative of anybody.   So without further ado, let’s see w...
1 comment
Read more