Abigail Edmons
December 17, 2025
Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year – or perhaps the most stressful time of year. Before you think I’m a Scrooge, hear me out. I promise, I’m not. I remember growing up and loving everything about Christmas. I loved Christmas Eve service (you know – the thrill of holding a real burning candle over my new Christmas dress), the Sunday school play, dinner at grandma’s, shopping for gifts, and decorating what seemed like every inch of the house with red & green. I loved it all – expect how rushed and stressful a lot of it left everyone feeling. It was all done with good intentions, but now, as an adult, I realize there were too many things squeezed into a short season of time. Every event, party, and activity was scheduled to add to the magic and wonder of Christmas, but when it leaves you feeling burnt out and ready for the rush to be over, it is too much. I’ve slowly learned that sometimes less is more.
After becoming a mom myself, I re-evaluated how I wanted the Christmas season to be celebrated in our home. I desired a slower and more intentional Christmas season. I wanted the focus to be on Christ and the gift of Jesus. There is so much during the Christmas season vying for our attention and hearts. I longed to build a Christmas season for my children that was centered on Christ’s first coming, which looks forward to His resurrection and His second return.
I quickly realized how easy it was to fill my schedule with “all the things”. I felt the pull to try and make it to every Christmas activity at the library, the tree lightings, the reindeer feedings, and the list goes on. The pressure was real. Even now, it requires constant examination of my motives when I try to add something to our schedule at Christmas – is it in alignment with focusing on the birth of Jesus or is it just because it’s what everyone else is doing? I don’t even have FOMO (fear of missing out), but there’s just something about the hustle and bustle of this season that makes me feel like I have more energy and time than I actually do.
After reading the book “Habits of the Household” by Justin Whitmel Earley and learning how important habits are in everyone’s life (especially in the lives of our children), I’ve been able to refine our calendar to reflect the importance of celebrating Jesus’ birth. I want our children’s childhood to be marked by habits that feel like home and point us to our eternal home. Once they are grown and have their own families, I long for my children to look back on the Christmases of their childhood and remember the joy and wonder they felt revisiting the birth and life of Christ year after year. Over several years, I have found a simple rhythm to the Advent season that feels manageable and enjoyable, and it has truly been life-giving in what can easily become the busiest time of the year.
We start each morning of the advent season with an advent card. This is my special Advent activity with the kids before we start school for the day. We hang the cards on a string in our dining room to talk about the stories leading up to Christmas. My husband also reads a story from an advent book after dinner as our family advent time. We use the Goodkind Advent Blocks, and our children absolutely love them. We’ve been doing these two activities for 3 years now, and our oldest boys look forward to the advent season because these activities are already marking the Christmases of their childhood. I also create an Advent calendar where we do a small craft, bake a little treat, donate toys to a local mission, and do an act of service for someone. I don’t overcomplicate things, but I want to foster my children’s hearts to look outward instead of inward and share Jesus’ love with others because after all, He first loved us.
As for gifts, we do the 4 gift rule in our home. Each child gets 4 gifts which fall under the following categories – something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. This approach to gift giving really helps me to be intentional with what I’m buying our children and allows us to bless them with good gifts as we remember and celebrate the greatest gift ever given to us – Jesus Christ.
These small practices have helped me dial in what is sustainable over the years and assist in creating lasting childhood memories for my kids. If you need a reminder to slow down and reel back in a crazy schedule or overindulgent Christmas consumerism, consider this your sign. God is so kind to remind me the “reason for the season”, and I’m slowly realizing that less truly can be more, and it usually is.
Merry Christmas! May the Lord bless you & keep your eyes forever fixed on Him.
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:15
