Have Yourself a Meaningful Little Christmas

The message fell into my heart weeks ago and stayed with me, “Have yourself a Meaningful Little Christmas.” I didn’t know what I was meant to do with it, but I determined to listen. I’ve learned if I’ll value God’s inside voice, He’ll elaborate.

Granted, I recognized the gentle spin of the lyrics from the old Christmas classic.  I’m not that dense. But any meaning beyond that was fuzzy. I figured it was either a personal invitation from the Lord, or something I was called to offer others. I remember thinking time will tell.   

Time will tell…My attention was captured with that idiom, so I looked up the definition. “Time will tell means the results of a situation will be known only after a certain amount of time has passed.” Indeed. There is truth in those words. Time always tells. How you and I spend the time given to us always tells the story of our lives.

Around that same time, I had my first brush with the part of the holiday season that can feel meaningless or meaningful to me, depending on how I engage. I call it retail Christmas and here it was, coming at me weeks before Thanksgiving so I challenged myself to “pause before the purchase.” The pause is something Jesus has taught me to do in recent years in response to my desire to walk through the season looking and listening for Him. And just like other seasons, the moments I brought Jesus into were meaningful. The rest were potentially overwhelming. By nightfall I knew I’d be writing to you again. I really do want to have a meaningful little Christmas, but if I can help you have one, too, my own enjoyment will be multiplied.

Here’s what I’m thinking. Instead of writing a daily advent journey for us to walk together, as I’ve done in the past, I’m going to choose four passages, one for each week of advent. I’ll post our Scripture passage, a focus, and a prayer at the first of each week. The early birds and the night owls among us can decide how to weave it into the fabric of the next seven days. And then we’ll take week’s two passage, and so on, until we arrive at Christmas Day. My hope is we’ll show up with full hearts and a delicious realization that the season was merry, but it was also so very meaningful, for He is so very worthy. Come, Lord Jesus.

Hugs, Shellie

Get your free printable advent devotional here and “Have Yourself a Meaningful Little Christmas.”