When you hear the phrase “Country comes to town,” are you the country or the town person? Me? Definitely country. My friend Carmen and I recently travelled to the big city of Dallas to meet up with our writer friends. My country side was shining bright!!
Y’all.
SO. MUCH. TRAFFIC.
SO. MANY. LANES.
All six lanes of traffic were zooming past me at the speed of light! Down where I live, three lanes of cars would be a lot. Two is more my speed. But to be in the midst of six lanes? Oh, my. I just wanted it to stop. I needed to take a moment.
I wanted to be a cartoon character (Goofy comes to mind) who could bring all the traffic to a screeching halt by stretching my rubbery arms across the bajillion lanes. Everyone would slam on their brakes, blow their horns and scream every kind of ugly at me. But I’d be stopped, breathing, catching up.
Whew! That’s what it feels like during the Christmas season, doesn’t it! The days zoom past, you are constantly going and doing, and sometimes you just need a moment. Right?
We need to stop. And, what I’ve found is, we need to be intentional about it.
Oh, I’ve had no problem slowing down since I retired. Yet, my calendar this season was booked by December 2! From now till Christmas, we have non stop events and get togethers. All good and fun, but man, it’s like six lanes of traffic zooming by.
However, I’m being very intentional about taking time each morning to sit quietly before the Lord and read His Word, abiding with Him. You can too.
If God’s Word brings peace to your heart, be intentional about guarding your time with Him. Set the alarm fifteen minutes early. What, you say? Lose fifteen minutes of precious, early morning shut eye? Ok, ok, even five minutes will work. It’s better than nothing.
Then, choose a portion of scripture to read. Find a great advent devotion (Abiding Joy comes to mind, wink, wink).
Take the time. Think of it as something you do for yourself – your soul care. Fix a good hot cuppa coffee, hot chocolate or tea. And settle in for a visit with Jesus.
Maybe mornings aren’t your thing. You’re a night owl. Again:
[tweetthis]Be intentional about carving out time for you and Messiah.[/tweetthis]
Don’t have time at night to spend in God’s Word? Gotta feed the family? Chose a meal that is easy and doesn’t take much time to prepare. Ragu with meatballs (pre-made, frozen) and bag o’ salad is my go to quick meal. Or, you could order a pizza. The time you have saved prepping for a major meal can be used to slow down and ponder God’s word. Sit yourself down in a favorite chair, prop your feet up by the fire, and soak in the story of Jesus this Christmas.
Stop the traffic in your life this Christmas!
Sooooo, what do you personally do to spend time with the Lord during busy seasons? Do you turn off the radio in your car? Sit quietly with a journal? Turn off the TV at night?
Be intentional. Guard your time.
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 CSB
In light of this, I will be taking a break from blogging for the remainder of December. Rest assured, I will be writing! Looking forward to “talking” to you in 2019!
Merry Christmas! Come Lord Jesus!
