Is it NESTING Time or BUY NOW and DO MORE Time?

Oh my! The holiday ads, promotions, and marketing campaigns are amped up. Every day, the message is "buy now for best bargains", 50% off today only, deal of the day! 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! And, believe you me -- I was one caught up in the frenzy for many years. The pain was real!

Something happened to me this year. I’ve turned over some new leaves. At this age and stage of my life, I get to do that. My father-in-law was the one who closed out our family Christmas’ present exchanges with his grand finale of handing out his envelopes which had a little money in them for each one of the family members. This was a big milestone year for me and I think it merited me making some changes. Since Dad has been long gone for about 20 years now, I’ve decided to carry on where he left off and this year, my family will receive envelopes with a few dollars in them with a love letter from me to them.

I can’t begin to explain the weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. You'll know that relief one day. No need for mall or online shopping! Oh, sweet Baby Jesus! I can celebrate the gift of You so care-free because of my newfound freedom! What a relief it is. I am sure not desiring to dampen your Christmas spirit by my new-way-of-thinking. This is my time to change, but oh that I might have discovered this freedom before now.

I also cut back on my usual “decorating every room in the house” to putting out just enough that the Christmas spirit is alive and well in my home – especially with my old family photos of Papa reading the Christmas story to the grandchildren and my children’s visits to see Santa. I didn’t even put out all of my Christmas churches or villages! I haven’t been tempted by Pinterest or emails that beckoned me to get started with craft items and buy more decorations. I’m passing up any reasoning that I need to do more to make this season more and just right.

Instead of my usual Christmas frenzy, I'm "nesting". This is the awesome season of Advent and finding a "nesting" place to ponder the beauty of Christ and His coming as a baby and His return to take us away to glory takes precedence over the hustle and bustle of the season. Don't we really want to push the MUTE button to separate ourselves from the crowds and busyness to enter into God’s stillness by taking some R&R (rest and relaxation) time to go find HIM in the secret place?

I'm a realist and I know we often don't have much choice but to stay on hyper-mode. Somewhere, however, there must be a quiet little "nesting" spot that we can find to pause for some silence when we can. It may mean we have to turn down the TV or the radio or shut off the computer because of the constant temptation to buy more, do more and be more. Hearing God’s voice in the midst of all the hubbub isn’t always easy, but when we place a high priority on practicing God’s presence, we just might find more strength, energy, and enthusiasm for all those things we must do. Maybe it’s as simple as reading a short devotion or simply whispering His name in prayer. Maybe we should start nesting like a Mama Bird who is 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