Preparing for peace

I love Christmas and everything leading up to the celebration of the greatest gift ever given. As a family, we enjoy all of the festive Christmas traditions. One of the things we love to do is to cut down our own tree. However, as a family of six, this process can be all but peaceful. We all have different opinions and ideas as to what the perfect tree is, and some of us just want to have our own way. Last year when we went to cut down our tree, the process was everything but peaceful. To start off, the trip was sort of spur of the moment. I did not have time to give my children a pep talk about being on their best behavior, not calling each other names, not crying if there tree wasn’t picked, etc. and so on. My youngest two were not in the best of moods and because of this, the day just did not end well. I left feeling frustrated and in a bad mood.

We just got back from getting our tree this year, and the experience was so much more joy-filled than last year. We have been preparing our children for a couple of weeks now about the trip, so we had time to posture our hearts to receive His peace. I talked to my children in advance about our desire to have a peaceful trip. We talked about the importance of preferring each other by not being selfish, among other things. And instead of just going and finding a tree, everyone had a job. My youngest daughter (11) pulled the cart. My youngest son (8) was responsible for finding cool sticks and rocks to add to the backyard collection. My husband and oldest two children were responsible for finding those trees that we would vote on. It was so much fun. And in the end, none of us found the tree. My daughter’s boyfriend did! It is beautiful and we love it!

Jesus is the prince of peace. He came that we might have peace, not just leading up to Christmas, but every day.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  (Isaiah 9:6)

Jesus is the giver of peace, but it is important to take steps to prevent the meltdowns in advance. Preparing my children ahead of time for our Christmas tree adventure was key. And when we got home, our traditions conditioned with all day Christmas movies, tree decorating and brownie making.

He came to bring peace, and we postured ourselves to receive His peace today.

How are you keeping the peace in your home this Christmas season?