Holiday Spirit

Has anyone ever noticed how difficult it can be to get in the holiday spirit? This year seems particularly challenging. I've been trying to figure out what might be contributing to my bah-humbug attitude and have three theories.

1) Short timeframe from Thanksgiving to Christmas. This year's calendar meant Thanksgiving was a week later than normal. That means there is compressed shopping and party time. Because every weekend is packed with activities, I haven't had time to relax long enough to truly enjoy this time of year. My iPod is full of Christmas music but I barely touch it, choosing instead to listen to the David Cook album and new Britney Spears.

2) Tulsa temperatures have been relatively mild. Instead of a cooler fall, we've experienced temps in the 60s for quite a while with periodic cold blasts. The brief snow flurries we saw on Tuesday of this week were short-lived. By Sunday, we'll be back in the 70s. I'm not sure how you can expect someone to feel Christmas-y when the weather is spring-like.

3) My final theory is a bit more serious. The economy. For the first time in my adult life, I'm really concerned about whether I'll have a job tomorrow. This is not a comfortable feeling, and rather than spend time thinking about gifts, parties and celebrations, my husband and I are focused more on saving money and ensuring that we will be able to handle any financial challenges thrown our way.

That said, I have been referring back to my college times and thinking about what I thought was an easier time in my life. No worries. Parents paid most bills and I worked part-time for spending money. Not only did I not worry about finances but I also spent more time thinking about my faith. It's easy to get so involved in life that you forget why faith is important.

Trusting in God allows a person to move beyond his or her earthly concerns and consider more ethereal matters. At this time of year, my focus should instead be on the birth of Christ. Instead of worrying about whether I have a job, I should think about why God sent his Son to earth and allowed Him to die on the cross for my sins. That's a much bigger issue than my daily fears. Christmas is forcing me think about that instead. That's a good thing. And being in a tough economy means material gifts are less critical and Christ's gift of His life becomes more important.

Thank you, Jesus.