Each day we live we have a list of things we have to do. Work. Clean. Cook. Kids. Activities. Clubs. Relationships. This list often takes over every minute of every day. Many days, feelings of being overwhelmed and overstressed engulf us like a cloud of dust on the desert. Christmas time often increases this stress because of the added items on our lists. Shopping. Parties. Gifts. Decorating. Baking. We often forget the true meaning of Christmas until we show up at church for the Christmas service. In those moments at church we focus on the meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior. For me it seems it is just moments after church is over that my kids begin begging to go home and open gifts, the busy time begins again.

2Timothy1.7This Christmas season choose to see Christ and His gift of life each and every day. Being purposeful to infuse each day with life-giving moments, moments that have meaning and give love. Take the time to invest in others this Christmas season. Let’s not look at these moments as added stress and more things to do but a gift.

Call a friend that you haven’t spoken to in a long time. Catch up on what matters to them. Forgive a family member who has done something that you deemed unforgivable. Let them know you have forgiven them and leave it at that. You cannot control his or her response but you can receive the freedom that forgiving someone gives you. Sit down with your kids in front of a Christmas movie with a cup of hot cocoa and watch without phones, computers or other distractions. Bake a special cookie just for your hubby. Let him know how much you appreciate him. Choose one thing that you appreciate about him that you don’t always let him know. Invest in love by doing something for someone you don’t know. Deliver cookies to a neighbor you’ve never met. Pay for a couple’s dinner when you are out with your family. You don’t have to let them know or make it about you. Let them feel the love of receiving something unexpected. Give without expectations of how someone should act when they receive.

This Christmas let’s be purposeful to enjoy the gift of life. Our lives fly by in fast forward at times and only we can stop that speeding clock to embrace the life God has given us. Embracing each breath, each moment, making memories and sharing the love He infuses us with. The blessings in living the life God has given us to the fullest, overflow when we give without receiving.John 10.10

Lord please guide me to where you want me to make memories, without fear of others reactions or lack of appreciation, living the

life you have given me to the fullest in your love and forgiveness. Let me see each moment that you provide for me to show a life memory to someone else seeing the blessing that you show me.

Is there a life-giving moment that you received? A time when someone did something for you that was unexpected?