Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

Random Acts of Christmas Kindness 2011

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I have a friend from college who has amazing ideas.  (She will tell you she gets them from other people, but she herself is pretty amazing.)  She is the one who inspired my Christmas by December 1 project.  And now she has inspired my what-to-do-in-December-when-you’re-done-shopping-and-wrapping-gifts project.  I’ve wanted to be like her when I grow up ever since freshman year.  So I am excited to tell you about what I’ve learned from her this time . . . now that I’ve sufficiently embarrassed her . . . it’s Random Acts of Christmas Kindness (RACK) 2011!

My friend has done a great job explaining it on her blog.  The idea is that each day of December leading up to Christmas, you do something kind for someone else.  She has adorable little bags with the tasks for each day, like an advent calendar.  I’m jumping on the RACK bandwagon a little late, so I don’t have cute bags.  I have a tentative outline and a couple of specific plans for specific days, but I think most days we will just wake up and figure out what we can do to bless someone else.  And I’ll blog about it, not to be boastful, but to hopefully motivate some of you to join us in spending our December blessing others.

Our RACK 2011 project started yesterday.  On Wednesdays, my oldest child and I go to the public library to work on schoolwork while the younger two attend Bible Study Fellowship.  We get coffee and hot chocolate at the coffee shop in the lobby, and the man who works there, Daniel, is so friendly and always remembers exactly what everyone who walks in the door orders.  Yesterday, my son and I went to the library armed with the RACK cards I made, a candy cane and a $20 bill.

We gave Daniel the candy cane and wished him a merry Christmas.  Then we told him we needed his help.  (Thankfully, there was no one in line behind us.)  We gave him the cards and the $20 and told him that we wanted to pay for however many people we could with the $20 and asked him to keep our secret and give out the cards explaining why we were doing it.  He was so excited!  We sat nearby with our drinks and our schoolbooks and watched it all go down.

The first lady he treated with the money was so grateful that she paid for the person behind her in line!  That stretched our money even further!  A line formed, and people would hear that the person ahead of them had been paid for, and then they would be so surprised when it applied to them as well.  It was fun to watch.  There was one person at the end of the line that I knew was probably going to just barely miss out.  When she got to the counter, Daniel said, “I still have a handful of change here.  I can treat you to a cup of coffee.”  She gladly accepted.  I think Daniel probably helped us out a little on that one–I saw him rummaging in the tip jar afterwards.

Some other plans we have include going to the post office at lunchtime next week to hand out candy canes to customers in line and the workers, taping quarters to candy and toy machines around town, and treating a Salvation Army bell ringer.  I’m excited to work on this with my kids and show Christ’s love to others after He has lavished us with His love.

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Are You Ready?

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I thought I should check in with my Christmas-By-December-1 friends . . . how’s everybody doing?  We went on vacation for a week before Thanksgiving, so I’ve had to cut myself just a little slack this year.  I have a couple of loose ends to tie up, but for the most part, all my gifts are purchased and wrapped, and one has even been gifted.  (You know who you are, waffle girl.)  I’m tracking down a few more addresses, but the bulk of the cards are in the mail.  My house is decorated, which is extra special because my sweet friends decorated for me last year when I was receiving chemo–and that was so great of them, but this year unpacking all those boxes myself made me smile.  🙂  Plus, I made these red sparkly letters to put on my mantle (inspired by Pintrest), and I love them.

I have no Christmas cookies stocked in my freezer and no plans to do a ton of baking this year.  (Sorry, people, we went to Disney World instead.  It was worth it.  But you’re not getting little tins of baked goods from me this year.)  But my kids and I are three chapters into “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and seeing Will’s reactions to hearing about the Herdmans for the first time makes me even happier than decorating my own house.

If you have made the effort to get most or all of your Christmas preparations finished, what are your plans for December?  I have made a list (thanks again, Pintrest) of all the things I’d like to do with my kids.  I made this frame look festive and wrote the list in dry erase marker on the glass:

Most of these things will probably happen in the week after school gets out.  But we’ve already started memorizing Luke 2, and we snuggled under blankets by the tree tonight to read about Imogene Herdman finding out what everyone weighed in the health office.

What are you all doing to make Christmas special this year?  After all, the purpose of getting our preparations done early isn’t to sit back feel prideful about it.  The purpose is to focus on the birth of Christ and celebrate with our families in a way that honors our Savior.  I’d love to hear your ideas!

P.S. For any of my blog readers who aren’t on facebook, I had my scans last week and got a great report.  Praise the Lord!

 

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Just 67 days until Christmas!

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I know, I know . . . you’re just trying to get through Halloween and Thanksgiving without having chest pains every time you walk into Hobby Lobby and are forced to think about how Christmas is almost upon you, with all it’s stress and busyness reminded about the upcoming celebration of our Savior’s birth and all it’s wonderful traditions and fun!

A couple of years ago, I discovered a new (to me) way of preparing for Christmas that has revolutionized my experience of Advent, the month of December, and the celebration of Christ’s birth.  I have started planning to finish all of my Christmas preparations–shopping, wrapping, mailing cards, etc.–by December 1.  I’ve found that it makes a huge difference in my energy level and enthusiasm by the time Christmas arrives if I’ve spent the weeks leading up to it enjoying Advent activities with my family rather than running myself ragged, fighting crowds at Target and wrapping gifts until midnight.

The key to this strategy is planning.  The way I plan is by making a long list of everything that needs to happen and then work backwards, scheduling it out and figuring out when I need to start each task.  For example, I can’t mail Christmas cards until I have a Christmas card.  I won’t have a Christmas card unless I order one.  I can’t order one unless we take a family photo.  I can’t take a family photo until everyone has color-coordinated outfits to wear.  (That’s just how I roll.)  So each of these tasks is on my checklist.  That way, I don’t get to the end of November, realize no one has anything to wear in a family photo for the Christmas card I want to mail out next week, and go running to the mall on Black Friday to try to find something.  (Nightmare!)

I apologize for not getting this post up sooner.  I started my preparations at the end of September.  But it’s not too late!  Every bit you get done ahead of December 1 will mean less stress for you in November.  Sit down right now and make your list!

To help you, click below for an example of my checklist to get you started.  Once you try it, you’ll never go back!

December 1 Checklist

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Christmas By December 1

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I tried something new this year.  Several weeks before my friend Karen wrote this post about simplifying Christmas, she wrote about how she and several friends encouraged each other to finish their Christmas shopping, wrapping and cards by December 1.  When I read that, I knew immediately that it would be a great idea for me.  Since having kids (maybe before, but I can’t remember life before kids), I find myself stressed out every December.  By Christmas day, I am exhausted and overwhelmed, I haven’t cracked a Bible open in weeks, and I know I’ve been too consumed by all the work to spend time talking to my children about Christ’s birth.  Not exactly how I should be preparing my heart or my family to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

This December, I was going to visit my sister and newborn nephew for 5 days right before Christmas, so I had already gotten an early start.  When I read Karen’s December 1 goal, I kicked it into high gear and got it done.  Here’s my timeline:

  • Early October:  Asked for wish lists from family members
  • Mid-October:  Started shopping (was almost entirely done by mid-November), using Amazon.com and other sites with free shipping to save time
  • Late October:  Bought outfits for kids’ Christmas picture
  • Early November:  Took Christmas card picture, updated Christmas card address list
  • Mid-November:  Started wrapping gifts; wrote Christmas letter, got cards printed, got return address labels, stamps, etc.
  • Thanksgiving week:  Addressed Christmas cards, finished wrapping gifts
  • Weekend after Thanksgiving:  Decorated house, cards were ready to mail
  • December:  Talked about Advent with the kids, Christmas crafts with kids, baking, holiday gatherings, school parties, cleaning, travelled to Utah

As you can see, December was still pretty full.  It was a little more chaotic than I thought it would be, due in part to my pre-Christmas travels.  But I knew it would have been so much worse if my shopping, wrapping and cards hadn’t been done!

Next year, I’d like to do some baking in October and put things in the freezer.  This year, I found myself constantly running to the store because I had to bake something for one of several holiday gatherings.  My friend Lynette made multiple batches of cinnamon rolls, froze them, and pulled a pan out for each gathering.  Genius!  I’m not a good freezer girl, so I’m going to experiment between now and October and find some things that freeze well and can serve as my signature item next December.

If you found yourself overwhelmed and exhausted this Christmas, consider joining me for the December 1 Challenge 2010!  Make a timeline now so you are ready in October or September or whenever you need to start to give yourself time to enjoy Advent and prepare your heart to celebrate Christ’s birth.  I want that to be my purpose:  not to impress others with my organizational skills or be the first Christmas card you receive, but to make time for me and my family to mediate on the incarnation, the Word made flesh, God coming to earth to save His people from their sins.

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