Christmas, Family, Grace, Parenting, Priorities, Rest, Stillness

Peace, Christmas, and the Hallmark Channel

I like the Hallmark channel for the same reasons I like pretty Instagram pictures.  It hides the hard struggles.  We can sit and watch a pretty scene while we rest from the trial and pains from our very real lives.   There is the slight danger of a comparison trap, but hasn’t everyone caught on that life isn’t going to always resemble Christmas Town, USA?  While life isn’t perfect and our hearts sometimes crack, it can still be beautiful. 

By the time Christmas Day arrives, I hope to have every single cheesy Christmas movie watched.  Even though I will inwardly cringe at some (most) of them, they will overflow my reindeer antler cup with the Holiday Spirit. Just because real life holidays are not always Hallmark, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy them.  Dare I say perhaps even learn from them?  

Christmas season is currently the sweetest season for me. However, there have been harder years of loss that haven’t been as sweet, if that is the case for you I offer you this;

“Give grace to your situation.  May we see our sorrow, grief, and difficulties as they are, without trying to extract meaning or closure before their time has come.”

Be gentle with yourself, and give sadness room to breathe even as you wait for joy to come again.  And know that the Prince of Peace will sit with you in your sadness, until you are ready to give it to Him to help heal. 

Throughout all seasons, I set the intention for our home to be a place of rest and restoration for our family.  I have naturally leaned toward this in the past, but more recently it is a priority of mine – to make sure it is a place of peace for our children. 

During the Christmas season, I want our home to feel like the Hallmark Channel to all who enter.  Mainly because Buddy the Elf is my inner child.  Don’t be still for too long or you’ll be wrapped in twinkle lights and garland.  Being the House Manager, my aim is set for our boys to come home and exhale.  My wish is that they can relax and be restored in the comfort of love, acceptance, and calm.  To learn how sit down on the inside, even when there is a lot happening on the outside.  Literally and figuratively. 

This is not just a mood to set within our home, but in our hearts.  It’s a posture I take as soon as they enter in my car or home.  I’ve learned (slowly) that I get a max of two questions before they go on autopilot. Choose them wisely.  Parents, your kids are tired from a day of schooling and practice.  They need a soft place to land their day, so cushion up and quit asking the autopilot questions that we all do.

“How was your day?”  “How was practice?”  “What did you have for lunch?”

I opt for a “Hi baby, I missed you today.”, because all teenage boys love being called baby.  Hey, I’m learning too, sometimes I say Bud.

If you have plans this season that are less than loving for you, remember that peace isn’t dependent upon the room we are walking into. Instead, we can bring peace with us when we walk into rooms.  

I encourage you, as I am learning the same. May we invite peace into our hearts and sit down on the inside throughout all the hustle and bustle of outward busyness.

Merry Christmas Friend.

May Peace find you tonight,

Brooke <3

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