The big day is almost here and I want to spread some Christmas cheer! I’m thrilled to be joining a group of authors to bring you some encouragement AND an awesome giveaway as we honor the true meaning of Christmas.
A Gift that Will Not Disappoint
I sneaked down the stairs, quiet as a mouse, trying to avoid the creak on the third step. I was seven years old and determined to peek at one of my presents wrapped beneath the tree. Stealthily, I opened a gift…but to my dismay it was a package of twisty drinking straws. I carefully refolded the wrapping and placed the gift back under the tree.
Not only was I disappointed, but now I had to feign enthusiasm for the straws come Christmas morning.
Discontentment can taint our Christmas experience. We buy into the lie that we’d be happier if we had what they had or we’d finally be at peace if this desirable thing happened. But the problem with this line of thinking is that it focuses on what is lacking, and not on what is already ours.
Sometimes we do get what we want, but it can leave us wanting more. Or we’re so tired of waiting for that one thing we want most, that when we get it, we forget to express sincerest gratitude because we are already onto the next thing on our list.
When we constantly focus on what isn't, we miss the depth of what we already have. Share on XEnough is enough.
There’s a better, more fulfilling way to live. Let’s not lose the awe and wonder of Christmas. Let’s turn around and see things from another perspective.
I don’t think it’s an accident that Thanksgiving precedes Christmas. Because nothing curbs discontentment like gratitude; I know from personal experience.
You see, years ago, I used to make all these lists about things I wanted. But the lists just caused me to focus on what I didn’t have. Then I read Ann’s beautiful book, and I started making a new kind of list, of what I already had—the good, the hard, and everything in between.
And I found more joy than I knew I possessed. Discontentment melted as I uncovered what was present beneath the surface.
A baby given. Not what was expected, but the very thing that was needed to breed contentment in this life, and the life to come.
Our ancestors put their trust in you; they trusted you, and you saved them. They called to you and escaped from danger; they trusted you and were not disappointed. -Psalm 22:4-5 (GNB)
Wrapped in twisted flesh beneath the tree, Jesus gave us Himself.
She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The LORD is salvation), for He will save His people from their sins. –Matthew 1:21 (AMP)
Let’s place our disappointments, failures, and discontentment under that tree on which Christ died and let’s unwrap the gift Who never lets us down.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. -Romans 5:6 (NIV)
What joy! We have what we need, and more than we even knew to ask for.
His name is Jesus. And He is the heart of Christmas.
And now, for more encouragement for your heart, please visit these ladies!
Vanessa Hunt
Jennifer Watson
Sarah Philpott at All American Mom
Abby McDonald
Morgan Tyree at Morganize With Me
The Jen Weaver
Shauna Shanks
Season Bowers
Kristin Funston
AND we have teamed up to bring you such an amazing giveaway! This prize package includes books that will speak to your soul, a t-shirt that will bring you joy, music that will bless your heart and so much more!
Merry Christmas, friend!
This is beautiful Katie! I loved what you said about Thanksgiving coming before Christmas and gratitude curbing disappointment. So good. Have a Merry Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas to you too, Morgan! Thankful for you. 😉
Thanks for giving us a chance to win.todays my birthday and this would be a awesome birthday for me especially since I was in er already today.
Happy birthday to you, Noelle!! Great day to be born. 🙂
This sums up so much and was exactly what I needed to hear today as I was losing joy over a recent wonderful life event in our family because I wasn’t able to be present! Thanks for this good word!
HI Lorraine: I hope you have a very, Merry Christmas. You are a gift!
Merry Christmas! I like the paragraph about “…the Gift Who never lets down.” 🙂 Thank you for sharing.
Merry Christmas to you Cindy. 🙂
Thank you for the encourgement to know you care enough to express concern to lift up our spirits when we are having a tough season. This is my first year without my forever 28 year old son, this was his favorite time of the year. Grace, grace is what am on now to get through each day. Thank you again for making me smile.
Oh Jackie, I am so sorry. May Jesus’s strength bolster you, especially now.
Thx for this beautiful reminder about having a thankful heart and being intentional with it through the Christmas season!!! Excited about the giveaway thx for offering it 🙂
Hi Naomi: You are welcome. Glad you entered. And I hope you have a very, Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas Katie.
Merry Christmas to you too, Sarah!
One of my favorite Christmas memories is my first Christmas in Alaska with my husband. We were young Bible college students, and we couldn’t afford much for decorations. So we hiked out into the woods on campus and cut down a black spruce tree and brought it home for a Christmas tree. It was a poor, scraggly thing, just like every other spruce tree up there. If you google “black spruce tree in Alaska” you’ll see that they all look like weird trees from a Dr. Seuss book! But it was our little Christmas tree, and we decorated it and had a happy Christmas together.
Such a sweet memory, Rachel. Merry Christmas and many thanks for pre-ordering my book. 😉 Love that your story is in it!
Merry Christ-mas!! My favorite Christmas memory is when, mom, daddy, my sister and me, rode around looking at all the Christmas lights and singing Christmas songs!
Love that, Dee. Merry Christmas!
Thank you for your lovely piece and especially that reminder to keep the gratitude of Thanksgiving throughout the Christmas season.
You are so welcome. May you have a wonderful and hope-filled Christmas season.
These blogs touched my heart deeply this morning….thank you!!! Much needed this year!!
So glad you were encouraged, Tammy.
My favorite Christmas memory is getting to come home on Christmas Day after I had a massive heart attack on December 15, 1997 and subsequent open heart surgery. It was my Christmas miracle.
Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year to you and your family!
One of my most memorable Christmases was when I asked for a piccolo. I found the case Christmas morning unwrapped, waiting for me. I was so excited, but when I opened it, I discovered two copper pipes with holes drilled in. The two sections wouldn’t even fit together. My dad and brother said they tried to make me a piccolo because they couldn’t afford to buy one. As we continued opening gifts, everyone began whispering “where is it?” I opened a huge box and found the tiny piccolo pieces inside. My family loved pulling stunts like this on me every Christmas.
My fav memory is this years Christmas my son who just turned three really is beginning to understanding all about Christmas and it really is the best. Some things were bad for a couple years but we are survivors. We are safe and happy this year praying it becomes our new ‘normal’