Becky Kiser - Sacred Holidays: Less Chaos, More Jesus

Copyright 2018 by Becky Kiser

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-5359-1412-3

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 394.2

Subject Heading: HOLIDAYS \ STRESS (PSYCHOLOGY) \ FAMILY TRADITIONS

Published in association with D.C. Jacobson & Associates, LLC, an Author Management Company, www. dcjacobson.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is taken from the English Standard Version. ESV Text Edition: 2016. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Also used: The Message ( msg ), copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Also used: New Living Translation ( nlt ), copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Also used: New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Cover design by Studio Nth.

Author photo Amanda Liberto.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 21 20 19 18

To Chris

You are my hero, best friend, and biggest cheerleader.

I choose you every holiday, and each day in between.

I love you. A lot a lot.

How to Use This Book

Because its different than other books youve read

Holidays can be crazy. And because youre holding this book in your hands, I think youd agree. I love that about youyou are willing to face crazy head-on and do something about it. Holidays can be especially tricky to navigate as a Christianwanting to celebrate and focus on Christ yet being pulled into the chaos or whimsy of each holiday.

You arent alone; nearly every woman I talk to struggles with this. You dont have to stay in the same cycle of wishing things would be different. Jesus called us to not just live, but to live abundantly (John 10:10). This is the beginning of a new way of doing holidaysone that involves less chaos, more Jesus, and not getting too caught up in the holiday whimsy or magical festivities, nor overwhelmed by the holiday chaos.

I am so proud of you for getting this book! Youre about to begin a journey to making holidays more sacredholy and set apart! This book is laid out a little different than most books youve read before, so I wanted to walk you through how to use it.

What This Book Means by Sacred

Throughout this book, youll hear me say a phrase over and over: sacredholy and set apart. Before we go any further, let me tell you what I mean by that phrase. Im breaking up your approach to the holidays into two categories.

First, holy . I want to help your holidays become holy or dedicated to Christ (and others). Instead of getting lost in the way the culture does holidays (making it all about self or about applause you could receive for pulling off a perfect event), I want us to get lost in the reality that Christ gave us these holidays to enjoy, and that we can worship Him in the middle of all the whimsy. Even if a holiday isnt a direct celebration of Christ Himself, we can still put Christ and others at the center of all our celebratory moments instead of ourselves! While we dont want to over-spiritualize every single moment, sometimes we can be guilty of under-spiritualizing, cant we? Part of my mission in this book is to help you find more Jesus in each holiday, making it more holy for you, your family, and your friends.

Second, set apart . While we certainly want to make the holidays more about Jesus, we dont have to believe the lie that spiritual means impractical. Sometimes we need help setting apart a holiday from the rest of the calendar year, making it special with intentional planning. The set apart portion of the holiday chapters are simply there to help you be more intentional about your holiday habits in really practical ways.

As youll see in each of the chapters that deal with specific holidays, I give you ideas about both of these categories. If you struggle with following in the cultures footsteps and forgetting the spiritual side of the holidays, lost in a sea of Pinterest activities and exhaustion, youll see some ideas on how to make your holiday more holy, helping you get more Jesus! On the flip side, if you struggle with over-spiritualizing the holidays to the point of never even getting to practical ways of having fun, youll also see some fun ideas on how to make your holiday set apart from the mundane of everyday life with whimsical activities and intentional plans. Sometimes during the crazy of celebration seasons, we need to pull away for more Jesus. Other times we need to bust out the planner, take the bull by the horns, and get intentional about our holiday planning so that we can look back and say it was truly set apart from the rest of the year in practical and fun ways. This book doesnt make you choose; it will help you make your holidays more holy and set apart.

This Book Is Meant to Stay Out

I dont mean stays out in that pile of books you hope to read that crowd up your nightstand, taunting you from your shelves, unread. This book is one you keep within easy reach because you will want to reference it throughout the year. This book of yours is meant to be a companion that guides you through all holidaysnot just the big ones. If we can change how we approach the holidays, our lives will be so much more free and fulland headed toward abundant living!

This past year I started keeping my planner on the counter, opened to the current day. By placing my planner out where I could see it each day, it radically changed my perspective on all the things I was juggling. I felt less overwhelmed and more in control than ever. I approached life with more intention and reached more goals than I ever could have imagined. I was able to say no to more things because I was able to see that I simply could not make them fit. I became a better follower of Jesus, wife, mom, friend, teacher, writer, boss, and neighbor. Dont get me wrong, I still have a long way to go. But this simple step of putting my planner out was a game changer.

What if you did the same thing with your holidays? What if instead of waiting to think about them right before they happen, or regretting afterward that you didnt approach them with more intention, you were prepared a month or two in advance? Lets stop living life in survival mode, constantly on the defense, a victim of our schedules and the expectations of others. Instead, lets live sacredholy and set apartwith our holidays having less chaos, and more Jesus.

This Book Is Meant to Be Read in Stages

This book is broken up into three sections:

PART 1: LESS CHAOS, MORE JESUS

(Read Right Away)

I know you want to quickly get to the meat of this book, the holiday chapters, where youll receive practical insights for how you can make your holidays sacred. However, we must deal with our heart and our approach to holidays first. This section is to help set the stage for what it truly means to have less chaos and more Jesus during the holidays. Make time to read these two chapters before you begin the holiday chapters.

Before we get busy doing, I want to remind you about the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. I think sometimes Martha gets a bad rap from her interaction with Jesus inside her home. Oftentimes she is portrayed as this frantic, bitter, workaholic woman, and the truth is, we just dont know that about her character. Sometimes I wonder if she was just like you and mesimply wanting to serve others and Jesus. Like her, we want to create this culture and way of life that brings God glory and others lots of joy. Howeverand this is a big howeverwe get lost in our doing and we just need to stop. Mary stopped and was found simply sitting at Jesus feet, listening to what He had to say. Then we learn the real problem with Martha wasnt that she was serving but that she was distracted in her serving (v. 40). Jesus replied in verses 4142, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.