Fun during the holidays

What makes Christmas time fun?

Is it decorating the tree? Gatherings with family and friends? Singing Christmas carols? Dressing in the sweatshirts and sweaters with pictures of snow scenes that you only wear in December? Showing kindness toward others? Counting down the days before Santa arrives? Exchanging gifts?

All of these things can be fun. In fact, I have participated in all of the above at one time or another. The activities themselves are not necessarily what makes for a fun holiday. In fact, if you look at these things as mere “activities” they can become just another to-do for the already stretched to-do list.

If you look in the dictionary for what “fun” is, two words appear: enjoyment and playfulness. Fun combines the act of play and the feeling of joy. So what makes something “fun” is to approach it with a sense of play and a feeling of joy.

You know why kids look forward to the Christmas season so much? They know how to have fun. They have an inherent sense of joy, and play like nobody’s business! But who makes the rule that after a certain age boys and girls, who have grown to men and women, can no longer have fun? I don’t remember seeing that in the contract…..

So be a kid. Decorate the place. Make popcorn garland for the tree, and eat a few pieces from the string, even if someone is watching. Sing loud, and sing proud. Wear your Santa hat to the grocery store, to the doctor’s office, to work, to Sunday school. Play till your heart’s content, and play some more.

Express your joy. Stop and pause at the manger scene. Kneel down and bow your head and honor the Savior. Yes, kneel, even if it’s in public. Don’t worry – God will send an angel to help you back to your feet. Share with someone how Jesus changed your life. And after you do, do it do it again and again.

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)