Do you struggle to find joy during the holidays?

I love Christmas! But every year I struggle to find the will to decorate for the holidays.

Honestly, the whole process overwhelms me. I remember being 8 months pregnant and crawling underneath the coats of our shallow hallway closet shoveling out containers and containers of Christmas bins.

It’s an entire redecoration process. I take down all the regular decorations and dust shelves. I rediscover heartwarming memories all packaged in irritating white styrofoam that leaves little floating snowballs escaping capture. I unravel twisted lights only to find there’s a broken one somewhere in the long strand causing all the lights to go out.

I wonder if sometimes I’m the broken light? I wonder if my lack of joy dims the light of those around me?

And so every year I talk myself into hauling out all the decorations. And every year I seem to win the battle over the part inside of me that doesn’t want to do the work.

Why? Because I want the joy. I want to shine the light of the joy of my salvation and the wonder of Christmas to my kids.

Every year I find that before I concern myself with outward decorations, I first need to find ways to decorate my heart with the joy of my salvation.

When you don’t feel like celebrating, how can you turn your attitude around to make much of Jesus and less of yourself?

How do you make it less about the decorations and traditions and more about making Christ the center of your heart?

Today I’m writing on this topic for Melanie Redd’s series, Keeping Christ at the Center of Your Holidays.  I would love for you to read my guest post here.