Where is Your Life Rich?
An invitation to simplicity this holiday season
A question my husband and I started asking ourselves years ago as we approached a really painful holiday season and have continued to ask it each year since is this:
How can we approach the holiday season more simply this year?
Holidays come with so many ranges of emotions. If you have children, they may (like mine) enjoy every aspect of the holidays—sitting around the TV and watching the Macy’s Day Parade (which my husband is convinced he will be the Santa in one day), holiday meals, cookie baking, Christmas tree decorating, Christmas light watching, along with all the holiday movies we cozy up to watch with our popcorn and warm blankets. You may also, like our family, hold many painful emotions when it comes to the holidays—every aspect of the holidays remind you of something that has been lost—a person, a place, a relationship, a dream etc. It brings up memories of what was, as you see the empty chairs around the Thanksgiving table and the missing stocking that is not hung over the fireplace.
Holidays can also bring the stress and pressure of financial expectations. There is the unspoken standard to display the most “Instagram Worthy” home when it comes to our decor choices. We have parties we’re invited to, cookies to deliver, Thanksgiving meals to bake, and presents to purchase for everyone and their mother (all while trying to seem cool, calm, and appropriately collected).
As we approach Thanksgiving, we may be looking forward to (or hold great anxiety about) the family gatherings, but also we are scanning Black Friday ads and curating the best plan to purchase all the things for all the people.
What if we slowed down and enjoyed the richness of the life we already have, as opposed to the “holiday joy” we hope to purchase or curate this season?
Now hear me—I am not against holiday festivities or finding a great deal on the present you really hoped to get your child. What I do know though, is I can so often be pulled along in the holiday season, like a snow sled going too fast, and often land by New Year’s Day in a tangled heap—thrown off and disoriented. I’ve found myself in too many holiday seasons, packing my schedule to the brim, trying to make the most “magical” memories for my kids, attempting to bake way too many holiday cookies, and comparing all of my experiences with that of others—often ending the season feeling like I didn’t “do enough.”
Our lives are already so full and rich. We are wealthy beyond belief in the ordinary goodness of God’s gifts.
I’m not necessarily talking about financial wealth here (although compared to most of the world, we are very financially wealthy). I’m talking about the hidden gems of God amidst our ordinary days—that shimmer with His glory.
Where are you already rich in life today?
Instead of being pulled into our culture of consumerism, comparison, and overabundance, we can choose a different lens. We can choose to see the gifts of God’s love already infused into our mundane, everyday lives—overflowing with His goodness and grace like presents under a Christmas tree. Here are a few of my own rich life examples—where I experience the smiles of God over my life and I wonder if these resonate with you at all.
Our lives can be rich with intentional family time around the dinner table.
Our lives can be rich with laughter.
Our lives can be rich with Heavenly love shown through nature.
Our lives can be rich with joy.
Our lives can be rich with silent prayer.
Our lives can be rich with family traditions.
Our lives can be rich with new rhythms.
Our lives can be rich with simplicity.
Our lives can be rich with grief1 (holding the pain and redemption together).
If we take just a few moments each day this holiday season and pause, looking around us at where God is—we will see the wealth we already have.
Here is a practical exercise that you may want to try if you’re having a hard time naming where your life holds the richness of God’s love. Give yourself grace as you explore your life with God—there are no expectations or shame with what rises in you. You can close your eyes while going through this, stare at a sunrise, or hold these questions as you do some holiday shopping.
Let’s slow down a little bit more today and look around.
What do you see?
Maybe you see a life that feels lacking or never enough. Maybe you see loss. Maybe you see all that is wrong. Maybe you see joy. Maybe you let yourself only see the good. Maybe you see all that is missing that others seem to have.
Now I want you to hold all you just thought of, and pause again.
Imagine Jesus looking at your life.
What does He see?
A son or daughter He created. An imperfectly human life. The eye lashes He formed in the womb. The beauty of His creation all around you. The beauty of His creation in you. He sees you.
Where is He inviting you to see your already wealthy life?
May holding the richness of God in your life today be a gift to you as you hand out gifts to others this holiday season.
May remembering that God treasures you be something that you tuck away and pull out in those moments when you want to “do more” or “buy more” and you need to remember your worth apart from what you produce or give.
May noticing the richness that is present in our everyday lives be a way we are invited to experience more of the slowness and presence of Jesus this holiday season.
We do not only have to name the positive and seemingly “good” things in life as “rich”. We are humans and hold grief and pain just as much as anyone else. We can experience the richness of God’s hope and love within that pain and amidst the grief. Naming it as such, doesn’t negate the trauma, grief, and loss that it holds in your story.
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Yes and amen👏🏼 I was just talking to my husband about this. We get sick every year around the holidays. Recently, we both have been feeling the Spirit pulling us back and slowing us down. I love how you listed out simple areas of "richness" in our lives!
Thank you for this encouraging perspective as we enter the holiday season. A beautiful way to take our thoughts captive with grace and gratitude.