It's NESTING Time or is it BUY MORE and DO MORE Time?

It's NESTING Time or is it BUY MORE and DO MORE Time?

Oh my -- the holiday ads, promotions and marketing campaigns are amped up. Everyday, the message is "buy now for best bargains, 50% off today only, decked out deals, deal of the day, last chance deal”. BUY -- BUY -- BUY!! There are banners outside stores, ads coming in the mail and tons of them coming through on social media. It takes great willpower to NOT be drawn in. After all, it's only 20 more days until Christmas!

Peer pressure -- rather, buying pressure. I’ll admit I was sucked into some of the online “Free Shipping”, and purchased a few things that saved me the trip to the store on Cyber Monday. Amazon Prime is a wonderful gas saver, shipping and time saver. The days of going from store to store to purchase our “must have’s” are over for many of us So that extra time should certainly give us more time to embrace the "Reason" for the season. Right?.

Oh, but more time, means I can get caught up in all the chatting on Facebook and Pinterest about really gorgeous decorations and craft items, as well as delicious goodies to bake. Once again, our reasoning is we need to do more to make this season bright and just right. The question is “Isn't there something we can do to stop the deafening sounds that separate us from what, rather WHO, this season is all about?”

This is the most incredible season of Advent where tranquility and peace is needed in our hearts and souls – to be able to find that "nesting" place where we're awaiting the birth -- the coming of our Lord. Don't we really want to push the MUTE button to separate ourselves from the crowds and busyness to enter into His stillness by taking some R&R (rest and relaxation) time to go find HIM in the secret place? But with so much to do and so little time to do it all, how can we squeeze in any time at all for “just sitting and nesting”?

I'm a realist and I know we often don't have much choice but to stay on hyper-mode, but somewhere there must be a quiet little "nesting" spot we can find so we can pause for some silence when we can. It may mean we have to turn down the TV and the radio OR the kids -- so we can hear God's still small voice. It may be we practice God's presence even if it's just to read a short devotion or simply to whisper His name in a prayer. On Sunday, my pastor encouraged us to not wait until the last minute to come to church, and when we do come, rather than to have idle talk and busyness even when we walk in, we should come at least 10 minutes early to STOP, take a deep breath, silence the world and then breathe in the Christ of Christmas.

Advent is about preparing for the Christ Child to arrive. Maybe that means, like a Mama Bird preparing for the arrival of her babies, to sit and wait and breathe in peace and quiet and exhale the worries, the stress, the fears and concerns. I promise, God is quite aware of all that's on our plates. He totally gets us, but all the while....He's over in a quiet "nesting" spot just waiting for us to cozy up to Him for refreshing and restoration.

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28