Christmas Shifts
I’m not sure where you are in your journey through life or what season you find yourself in, but as I reflect on my experiences with Christmas over the years, I realize that Christmas has a way of shifting as time passes. The day itself remains the same, but the experience certainly changes.
As a child, Christmas was filled with excitement. Most children eagerly anticipate that day. Many of us wish we could return to those days when the thrill was so intense.
As we transition into our teenage years, that excitement begins to wane, even though we still look forward to it. We either get everything we want or realize that Christmas isn’t as crucial to us anymore because we accumulate more life experience and less holiday magic.
As young adults, our focus often shifts toward bringing the joy of Christmas away from ourselves and toward others, or perhaps we might not even celebrate the holiday at all.
As parents, the central focus of Christmas becomes our children. For many parents, the holiday holds less personal significance because the emphasis is on creating a memorable experience for one’s kids and family.
As grandparents, we may start to lose touch with what Christmas once meant to us. We find ourselves bringing gifts to our grandchildren, trying to make the holiday memorable for them. However, as we witness how Christmas impacts the younger generations, the holiday begins to lose its importance for us as we gradually shed the magic that originally defined it.
Perspective is everything.
Christmas shifts. It shifted from when you were a child to a teenager. It shifts again when you’re a teenager, becoming a young adult. Christmas shifts again when you turn from a young adult to a parent. Once more, it shifts when you become a parent, a grandparent, or even a great-grandparent. That makes me consider this point I want to bring home to you.
Jesus, The Bible says that we should become like a child or be childlike. [1] We should have faith like a child. Therefore, we should never lose the excitement of being a child. That thing that makes a child unique is what we should be holding on to because life has a way of sucking that or removing it from us. There’s a plus, a benefit to ensuring we remain with this childlike anticipation, childlike appreciation, childlike enthusiasm, and even childlike playfulness and, what do you call it, dreaming and the magic even of being a child. We shouldn’t lose the wonder of being a faith-filled child.
Christmas shifts. Since it shifts, what do we do with it? See, shifting means it can evade us, elude us, get away from us, or slip right through our hands without us even knowing it. It may turn on us, yet we may not understand why or how to turn it back.
Since it shifts, what do we do with it? Here’s a solution to when Christmas has shifted on you, when it’s gotten away from you, when it’s evaded you, when it’s even escaped you. How do we turn it around?
- Go with the shift.
Go with the shift. Many people are fighting to get back to where they once were and, as a result, don’t take advantage of where they are now. See the favor you have now and the benefit of where you currently stand. - Plan with the shift in mind.
Go at it with the shift in mind. Know that Christmas shifts through seasons and times of life and plan for it. Plan based on your season and how you can make the most of the Christmas that has shifted on you. - Embrace the shift.
Embrace the shift. You know, when we fight against what’s natural, what’s going to occur whether we want to or not, things become uneasy and complicated. We make our way hard when we do that. Instead, if we embrace the shift, we will be better off. Embracing the shift will make things more meaningful. - Find something to enjoy in each shift.
Find something to enjoy in the shift. Children can easily find something to enjoy, but what can you find to enjoy as a teenager? What is it when you become a young adult that you can enjoy about Christmas? As a parent, what are the joys you can find in Christmas? As a grandparent, how can you embrace, find the joy, and learn to look for the joy in the Christmas that has shifted on you? - Replace the things that have shifted.
Replace the things that have shifted. You know, if you go back and really do a soul search and find out or diagnose or describe the things that have shifted on you that have made Christmas not so great for you, find a way to replace those things. Maybe it’s the loss of someone important to you. While that person can’t be replaced, the experience can be replaced with another or with something else. Find a way to replace that thing that has shifted on you so that you won’t have to have Christmas, have the joys, have the experience fade away and slip through your hands.
I leave you with these thoughts because a shifting Christmas is something that happens by default. There is one thing about Christmas. As time passes, it shifts. That’s a fact. Things change. While things may change, that doesn’t make the experience get worse. An old phrase says, “I wish I could get back to the good old days.” By the way, they weren’t good when the good old days were the present days. That means we have to learn how to make today good so that when we look back years from now, we can also say they were the good old days. Your now has to be good so that you look back and say they were the good old days.
Christmas has never been about the state of mind or the state of being you find yourself or the season. It’s something a whole lot more. Don’t let it slip through your hands. Don’t let it slip away. Don’t let the shifting Christmas shift away from you. Capture your Christmas. Learn to take hold of it and find a way to enjoy Christmas no matter what stage you’re in.
Merry Christmas!
[1] Matthew 18:3-4 NLT, Bible.com, accessed December 21, 2024, https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.18.3-4.NLT
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
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