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Today I have Bethany coming to join us. Bethany blogs full time over at Gracefull Country Diva. I am sure you are going to love her post as much as I did 🙂
It’s Christmas time and I LIVE for this time of the year. Let me start with a little confession; I start listening to Christmas music in October. Yup, I said it…October. There is just something about hearing the wonderful tunes that spill from the speakers that just puts me into the holiday spirit and jump starts the end of the year for me.
Another way to get into the holiday spirit that I have found a lot of people using is to visit Pinterest.
Oh the wonders that reside on Pinterest. There are so many amazing things you can do for Christmas just by looking at the pins there. It’s almost a little bit overwhelming, but who couldn’t make the perfect Christmas by doing all the DIYs that you can find there? That’s what we all want isn’t it…a perfect Christmas?
Of course the perfect holiday can be had…if you can just copy all the beautiful stuff on Pinterest and make your house look like the pictures, the presents under the tree perfectly wrapped, and one amazing dinner set on the table.
Right???
Wrong!!!
Little do you know, but when you are in search of the perfect holiday tree or decoration on Pinterest, a very old battle is going on inside you…the battle between your inner Mary and Martha
I know that a little light bulb just went off above your head, didn’t it?
If you are unfamiliar with the story of Mary and Martha I will offer you a little recap, but you can find the story in Luke 10:38-42.
Mary and Martha were sisters. Jesus came to visit one day and while Martha ran around taking care of household tasks, Mary sat before Jesus and listened to his teachings. This angered Martha because she felt that Mary was being lazy and not helping. But, when Martha went to Jesus to complain about her sister he had these words for her in verses 41 and 42.
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one, Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Wow…Mary has chosen what is better. Such amazing words.
While we are busy planning the perfect Christmas and running around trying to check off things of our to-do lists we are missing the most important thing about Christmas.
Jesus!
Jesus is here for each of us and we have an opportunity to spend time with him. The whole world slows down on one day of the year to spend time with Jesus, but we have forgotten that Christmas is really all about him. We are so caught up in trying to be Martha and making sure that everything is done perfectly we miss the opportunity to celebrate Jesus.
Not only are we missing time with Jesus, but we are missing time with our family. Trust me {I know from experience} your family doesn’t care about the perfect tree {it comes down eventually anyway}, or the perfectly wrapped present {they really don’t care about the paper}, or even the perfect holiday dinner. All that Jesus and your family care about is making each minute of the holiday count.
So…what can you do about the battle of your inner Martha and Mary…
Well, for starters, step away from Pinterest. Take some time away from your computer during this holiday season. {After you finish reading this post of course.} The more time you spend online, the more time you have to compare yourself to all there others that are trying to have their perfect Christmas. Don’t let them feed your inner Martha.
Spend time with your family. Make these moments count. You won’t have this Christmas back again and next year will be a different holiday. You don’t know what the future has in store for you, so be in the present!
But, the most important thing to do this holiday, make sure that you are not to busy for God and make it a priority to spend some time daily with Him. Chose to be like Mary and do what is better.
As Jesus said…if you do what it better, it can’t be taken away from you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Bethany is a child of God, lover of nature, wife, mother, country girl, coffee lover, and perfectly imperfect. She likes to write inspirational and encouraging post for women that help them to further their relationship with God and build a foundation of faith. She is constantly working to improve her walk with God and loves sharing the new insights that He has shown her during her studies and quite time. Follow along with her on her walk with God via her social media sites and blog. You can follow Bethany on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+
I would like to invite you to my Facebook group Christian Homemakers in Training where we dive into homemaking, motherhood, marriage and group devotions. After all, we all need a safe place to grow together, right?
We studied something similar in Sunday school. To focus on Christ this Christmas and not get caught up in all the things of Christmas. They are good things but we can lose our focus. Thanks for posting.
It is so easy to lose focus on what really matters. We sadly are easily distracted. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.