Christmas: Come out of her, my people

Our first year without *gulp* Christmas. I NEVER EVER in a million years thought I would be saying those words! Ever. Neither would ANYone who really knows me. Sigh… I know. I KNOW! How could a believer NOT celebrate Christmas?  This is where I lose half of you, right?  Believe me when I say that this topic has been HARD on this mama. I was even tempted NOT to share…

I know what you’re thinking. Oh, she’s one of those Christians. I get it. I’ve been there, too! But before you go down that path, first allow me to introduce myself…

Until Christmas 2021, I was Ms. Christmas: open house each year my husband pastored, entire month of December off of homeschool to soak in ALL things Christmas with our children, new ornaments to commemorate family vacations, Christmas music playlist, decorating multiple trees – and always the last weekend in October, ALL the cheesy Christmas movies, December birthday money spent on Christmas decor, building traditions with our children, Operation Christmas Child boxes, caroling, theatre productions, choir performances, Happy birthday Jesus cakes, multiple nativity sets, family pictures for Christmas cards, Christmas Eve candlelight services, Christmas cookies while looking at Christmas lights…

Do you get the picture??! This is no small thing for me! And to be completely transparent, these past several months have felt like spiritual heart surgery, accompanied with Texas-sized tears and a few sobs.

But when the Father opens your eyes, it’s a whole new perspective! I haven’t yet formed the words to describe the hunger and understanding I’ve found in the Bible this year. (I found THIS teaching to be very helpful!) No, I’m not part of a cult or “movement”. Questions I’ve had for many years are simply coming into focus. It’s beautiful… and oh-so-painful and hard! But with biblical understanding, life application becomes clear. It’s time to walk it out in obedience.

While my daughter was preparing for a Bible study, she asked me, “How do you know it’s love? Without hesitation, I responded, “When it’s uncomfortable.”

The answer surprised me, too! But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made! Love requires action, which can take us out of our comfort zones. And I had no idea that I was about to get very uncomfortable. HOWEVER, when tradition is taking priority over what my Father is showing me, tradition has to go.

With clenched fists, holding tight to my well-intentioned traditions, I was reminded that if I’m having so much trouble letting go of my traditions, it has become more about me and a little less about Him. Ouch! The Father has simply reminded me what HE says about paganism and His worship – and that (even though my intentions are good) only HE has the authority to determine how people should worship Him.

You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. Deut. 12

I simply wanted you to know (some of) my journey — Not just information in a dry post, where tone and intent get lost in text — and where it can come across as “do as I do or feel shaaaame!”  I’ve poured many hours into this. And as we’ve shared with our children, we would not make such a huge change without a LOT of research and conviction.

I’m certainly not asking you to blindly follow. If interested, I would simply invite you to truly research this for yourself Bring it to the Father in prayer. We simply need to be asking more questions. Dig in His Word to understand what He truly has to say about it — minus the opinions of man (especially opinions found in mainstream churches).

Pat Robertson admits Christmas is Pagan
https://youtu.be/-FvT2wzKTmo

Plea of Consideration about Christmas
https://youtu.be/GuiCxBeeXWY

Great points made here.