top ten tips for Christmas

In reverse order:

10. Don’t start too early. It’s difficult to maintain the excitement for months on end. If the month doesn’t have a ‘d’ in it, perhaps it’s too soon.

9. Enjoy advent. Advent does not mean ‘chocolate’ (answer given in a recent assembly!!) but is the season of preparation, anticipation and listening.

8. Invite the shepherds. I love the fact that God announced the most important and significant birth in human history to people who were on the margins of society and invited them to join in the celebrations. Who are the shepherds in your town / church / community?

7. Recycle. There’s an astonishing amount of waste generated by Christmas, and we can help by recycling as much of it as possible. My Grandma and her sister were doing this decades ago. They used to send each other the Christmas cards they received from the other one the previous year – the same cards got sent MANY times over!

6. Don’t leave it to the last minute. Last minute shopping is likely to lead to disappointment – either by the one shopping or the ones receiving. Very few quality gifts can be bought at 24 hour petrol stations on Christmas Eve.

5. Seek out the joy. Christmas is a season that for some is tainted with sadness and sorrow. But joy can still be found if we look for it in unexpected places… stables, carol services, unexpected invitations, hugs…

4. Sing your lungs out. Carol Services only happen at this time of year, which is understandable, so don’t hold back anything as you sing.

3. Lower your expectations. There’s no such thing as the perfect Christmas, so relax a little and remember that the first one was chaotic and yet it worked out rather wonderfully.

2. Cultivate some traditions. The children in a family I know found that their father had not worn the shirt they gave him for Christmas. So they wrapped it up and gave it to him again. And again. And again. It has even appeared stuffed in the turkey and in a bowl of jelly! How about the tradition of going to church on Christmas Day? And remember that church is open the rest of the year too!

And now, the moment you have been waiting for. The top tip for Christmas. The one thing that you can do or say that will make Christmas even more special. [I may be building this up too much].

1. Relax.