Are you overwhelmed with the thought of yet another holiday season? Do you desire a peaceful holiday season and yet purposefully Christ centered? How can you begin now to pray and plan how God might have you and your family invest in making this a profitable and God-glorifying time of the year?
It might seem a little early to start thinking of the upcoming holidays, but what better way to keep the holidays simple but through a little planning and foresight! I am looking forward to sharing a few ideas that I have been blessed with over the next few weeks in our Simple Living Series, but for now, I would like to kick it off with a little giveaway!
The 12 Week Holiday Planner for Christian Families by Sheri Graham (mother of five) is a great tool for any family desiring to keep the Christ-centered focus in the holidays without being overwhelmed. Filled with practical and useful charts, planner pages, the Jesse Tree Devotional and other useful information, you will be equipped to keep your light shining this season!
Sheri says, “My desire in putting together this eBook is to provide a tangible way for you to plan out your holidays so they are enjoyable, less stressful, and more filled with the things that really matter.”
This 146 page e-book includes:
*Weekly plans for the 12 weeks prior to Christmas
*”Sheri’s Tips”- tips to make your holidays meaningful, shared throughout the ebook
*Thanksgiving Ideas
*Christmas Craft, Gift, Decorations and Menu Ideas
*Memory Making Ideas for the Family
*Ideas for Baked Items to Share/Give Away
*Ideas for Meals to Freeze for Use during the busy weeks
*Supplies to stock up on ahead of time or when on sale
*Ideas for a Holiday Baking Schedule
*Kids’ Gift Idea List
PLUS!!! “The Glorious Coming: A Jesse Tree Celebration of Advent” – Jesse Tree devotionals which include devotionals, ornaments, and instructions to make your own Jesse Tree!
I am so thrilled to share this resource with you all and am finding it very helpful already as I start taking simple steps with the use of these materials for planning our purposeful Christ-centered holidays!
Click here to view more details!
To join in on the giveaway, please leave a comment below and feel free to share one idea you have found helpful for simplifying the holidays.
Giveaway ends: Tuesday, October 14th 5:00pm PST. Winner will be randomly draw Tuesday evening and announced next Wednesday.
I think this sounds great! My tip is to make up lists early( I do mine in the summer) and make/ buy as many things ahead as possible… I am working on having all my shopping done before December even hits, and having all of the items for baking already, too- I’m about 75% done already. This helps me to be available mentally and physically for the whole month of December for my husband and 4 children.
Sounds like a great resource! We actually do not exchange gifts within our immediate family. Our children receive so much from relatives that my husband and I do not find it necessary to buy them anything else. And being on a tight budget, we would rather just spend time together than worry about buying each other the “perfect” gift.
I am always looking for ways to simplify the holidays. My biggest struggle is the Santa Claus influence from extended family members. I feel like I am taking the fun out of Christmas because I have to be the “heavy”. I do try to do some fun things with my children that center around Jesus, but it is so hard to tear them away from the world around us! Anyone have any suggestions for dealing with in-laws? I am very concerned this season because we are now living with my in-laws while we build our house.
I’d love to win. The holidays stress me when they should be a time for the Lord. I have no advice to offer.
I’m not sure it counts as simplifying Christmas or not…but for the last several years I have taken to making homemade Christmas calendars or other gifts that can be passed down and treasured for years. I got so tired of plastic toys and such that rarely were used or broken. For the children in our family, I focus on books or educational materials that will foster their imagination and creativity. Hopefully, I can pass this down to my children as they get old enough to be involved.
As an extended family, we have decided to limit our gifts to kids only. This helped a lot since most of the adults didn’t need anything so it was hard to buy for them. At our home we try (year round, but especially at busy times) to limit our activities. We decided last year that we can’t do it all and still remain sane. So we usually do family things and church functions only. Usually this encompasses most of our close friend’s anyway. And we try to do several things with just us four. Thanks for offering the giveaway.
We celebrate advent, putting an emphasis on fellowship. In late October – early November, we choose whom we want to invite to celebrate with us. For four Sundays before Christmas we have a few families over who are very special to us and enjoy a meal and a themed evening. The theme depends on which candle is being lit. (Love, Hope, Peace…) We plan simple crafts, or a special movie or making a desert or cookies to take home. This way, we don’t spend alot of money, yet we always feel like we’ve been able to give something special to the people in our lives who we feel we have been so blessed by knowing.
This sounds like great material to read. Please enter me in the contest.
I start making Christmas gifts in the early fall, that way I have them done well before the rush of the season hits!
Thanks for your lovely blog. It is an inspiration!