December starts with good intentions of organization & calm & cards posted on time. Yet as the month rolls on, it gains momentum like a giant snowball gathering more & more festive events & shopping.
I can identify with Bilbo Baggins who said, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring)
Someone wise once said ‘Rest before you are tired’ And the Wisest of All created rest in the beginning.
We need to create margin, or white space as we approach this time of the year. Our diaries may be jam-packed already, but:
‘Its in the white space- the in between moments of stillness- where the joy of Christmas is found’
(Rebecca Cooper)
‘White space is where the magic happens’
(no sidebar)
‘The quieter you become the more you can hear’ (Ram Dass)
In the middle of the mayhem & busyness attributed to Christmas celebrations, the sound of silence can be deafening. Last month’s minute of silence on Remembrance Day felt much longer than sixty seconds.
‘There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech.’
(Charles Spurgeon)
Even in this season,‘We must also identify what gives us life, what recharges us and restores our capacity.’(Alli Worthington -Breaking Busy)
In the quiet, we can connect with God. We can make room to marvel & wonder at the miracle of Christmas, that God is with us – Imanuel
How can we make room for God this Christmas?
*Read
In December I set aside my usual reading plan & start off each day reading from an Advent book
This year I’m reading The One True Gift by Tim Chester. Last year I read The One True Light by the same author.
The year before I read The Time is Now by Amy Orr-Ewing
*Pray
We can pray for our family,community & our broken world.
I love these little books to help us pray using God’s Words:
5 things to pray-
For those you love
For your church
For your world
*Listen
Listen to Christmas music. I love traditional carols blended with contemporary worship:
A Christmas Offering-Casting Crowns
Adore– Chris Tomlin
A Hallelujah Christmas – Cloverton
How many kings-Downhere
*Explore
Wrap up warm & escape into the great outdoors to breathe deeply, clear your mind, & star gaze. Creation is the ultimate whitespace- the best way to unplug from the un-necessary & connect with the One who made it all!
Each day we have choices to make:
‘Each of us is an inn keeper who decides if there is room for Jesus’
(Neal Maxwell)
‘Let every heart prepare Him room’
(Joy to the world)
Blessings,
Ruth x
Blessed! 