My struggle to keep Christ as the reason for the season

Picture from Christ the King Anglican Church

I have been challenged this season to follow an Advent reading plan. I found one on YouVersion that I lead with our family every morning.  The plan is "Joy! to your world! A Countdown to Christmas."  We light the candle that corresponds to the first week of Advent. I read the devotional and one of my children reads the Scripture selection. We pause to pray before we scoot out the door to get the kids in the van and over to school each morning. 

I find it challenging to focus on the reason for the season. As a human being, the holidays can be exhausting. I am overwhelmed with busy.   I feel that all I do in December is add another event from an invitation to a full calendar. So many requests, so little time.  I can be ragged and get edgy with my feelings and emotions.  I need to refocus on the reason for the season.

As a Navajo, I miss my family in NM and AZ. I reflect on my childhood when I would enjoy time with the family without the pressure of events to schedule on an already full schedule.  Simplified versus Complex is what I long for.I need to return to harmony in my life with the reason for the season.

Our Navajo people did not celebrate Christmas in the past. My family learned to celebrate Christmas because my patriarchs committed their lives to Jesus Christ.  A Navajo pastor shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with my aunt Edith.  Then, one by one family members came to commit their lives to Christ. So, I learned to celebrate Christmas with Christ as the focus--the reason for the season.

As a husband and father, I am learning, re-learning how to engage Christmas again. In fact, as a pastor I engage Christmas with renewed reflection.  This Christmas could be the first Christmas that my friends and neighbors come to commit their lives to Christ for the first time.  This Christmas could be the first Christmas where new people understand the reason for the season.  Jesus is the reason for the season!

So, this Christmas season I refocus with an Advent reading plan. I make time to be quiet mid-morning, in the afternoon, and at the close of my day to rehearse what I read in my Advent reading.  I must refresh my memory to commune with God more closely.  No matter how hectic the schedule, no matter how I long for serenity amid the chaos, no matter how often I relearn the reason for the season, I can engage this Christmas with Christ as my focus. May Christ be the focus and the reason for the season.

I wonder how you keep Christ as the reason for the season. I'd love to hear how you are doing and what you are learning to Christ as your focus.