12 Days of Christmas Rest

Christmas rest, at its best, might be found in the 12 Days of Christmas. It begins one week from today on December 26 and ends on January 6, the day commemorating the arrival of the Wise Men. Want to make this a Christmas to remember?  Try some of these 12 Days of Christmas Rest suggestions.  Most won’t cost a dime, but they will line your heart with treasures. And you can’t go wrong—all of these ideas have all been field-tested and kid approved. Why keep the celebration of Jesus’ birthday confined to a single day when we can be blessed by 12 Days of Christmas Rest?

1. Roast mini marshmallows over candles with toothpicks. It will make you smile. (If a little girl with long hair joins you, pull her hair back with a pony tail.) Want to have some extra fun?  Make them into s’mores with Golden Graham cereal and chocolate chips.
2. Write the Birthday Babe a love letter or make Him a card. This little ‘pause with a cause’ will bless your heart and make His day.
3. Listen to “O Holy Night” in a darkened room, watching the flickering flame of a candle.
4. Buy your favorite protein snack (nuts, cheese sticks, peanut butter, hummus) and add that to any high carb-snacks to off-set the sugar crash that’s bound to take place.
5. Sleep. Remember, winter is a time for hibernation!
6. Give and get a foot massage.
7. Take a night time stroll under the stars, through a city block full of lights, or when the snow is gently falling. Bundle up. Grab a friend. Listen to the quiet.
8. (Next year) Visit the bank for a fist full of ones, fives or quarters. Keep them handy. Every time you pass by a Salvation Army ringer, give with great joy and lift up a prayer for the people who will be blessed. Make each gift a celebration of thankful joy.
9. Read your Christmas cards in the glow of your Christmas tree lights.  Receive each wish and prayer. Don’t rush. Pause and pray.
10. Buy yourself a Frasier Fir candle from WoodWick.  The wooden wick crackles and the scent is incredible.  Enjoy it all year long.  I do.
11. Set your phone or a household timer for a couple times a day. Each day, do something silly or sacred. Ring some jingle bells. Sing a song. Say a prayer. Breathe—slow and deep. Eat the cookie crumbs. (Did you know crumbs have no calories?!)
12. Initiate some Christmas Tree Time.  It’s our family favorite.  What does this mean? Lights off. Tree on. Cozy cuddle time (or not so cozy depending on the end-of-the-day temperament of any given person—big or small). Through the years we’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading the adventurous Advent stories of Arnold Ytreeide: Jotham’s Journey, Bartholmew’s Passsage, and Tabitha’s Travels.  Powerful and riveting, these 3 books have shaped and defined our Christmas Tree Time. Each chapter ends with a cliff hanger, leaving our kids begging for more. We end our time together with a Christmas carol or two. Do we do it every night? No, but when we do, we are richly blessed. (Hey – please note. These stories may be too adventurous for little ones.) Did you get some money for Christmas? Order these books today.

This year I have a brand new Christmas decoration sitting on my kitchen sink windowsill. It’s a 2-inch Star Wars figure with a lightsaber in one hand and a shield in the other. He’s reminding me to guard our Christmas Quiet, our Christmas Rest.

Love-Come-Down. He will see to this miracle in the making.

What might you do to guard and bless your 12 Days of Christmas?

First time here?

Welcome! We’re a group that gathers around the theme, “There has to be a better way.” We’re finding it in the 4-word mission statement, “Run hard. Rest well.”

• It’s a journey into the heart of God. It comes our way through an on-going exploration of four biblical rhythms that revive, replenish and restore: Sabbath Keeping, Sleep (and other simple stress-reducers), Stillness—personal retreat, and Solitude—personal retreat.
• It’s an expedition that challenges us at every turn. It convicts us in deep, tender places. It alters our priorities and plans. It’s not for the faint of heart.
• It’s adventure at its best – as we learn to run the race in a power not our own.

We cannot wait for a convenient time. It will never come, not in December, nor in the New Year before us. Stillness must be made. Carved out. Shielded. Protected.

First time here?