II don’t know about you guys, but at the Edgar’s house, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…which is both exciting and exhausting at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong, Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year-ask anyone! I love everything about it; I don’t even mind the shopping crowds, honestly…maybe because I’m a close, personal friend of Amazon Prime, but whatever.

I mean, who doesn’t love the decor, the gift-giving, the parties, the beautiful colors, the carols, the movies, the FOOD? But still, for most of us WOMEN, Christmas is a huge undertaking.

One of the movies always watched at Christmas time at our house is Christmas with the Kranks. It’s a movie based on a John Grisham book called Skipping Christmas. The basic plot is that the Kranks’ Christmas is going to be very different this year because their daughter has joined the Peace Corps and won’t be home for Christmas. (NOTE: Is there still a Peace Corps? I have no idea.) Anyway, Luther and Nora decide to go on a cruise and totally boycott Christmas – no gift buying, decorating, etc.

Well, the movie is hilarious, I mean, you and I know that you can’t live in the United States and boycott Christmas, right? Why would you even try? But at the beginning of the Christmas boycott, Nora has to deal with the neighbors “demanding” that she give them their 20′ Frosty the Snowman that usually decorates their roof. When she resists, she sneaks out of the house to meet her husband, Luther, and delivers this awesome line, which goes something like this, Sherra’s paraphrase:

“It’s the women who are on the front lines of Christmas; women are the ones who make Christmas happen.”

And every time I hear it, I want to stand and applaud! I don’t know how things work in your family, maybe your husband is just as involved in all the getting-everything-ready-for-Christmas as you are, but not at my house!

I ADORE my husband, I really do, but honestly, his Christmas contribution is usually putting the lights on the house and the tree and a little bit of online shopping. Occasionally we have gone shopping together, like around December 20, for the “Mayday, Mayday Christmas is less than a week away and we still have gifts to buy!” shopping day. And he’s been known to participate in the “Great Christmas Wrap,” ie wrapping of all the gifts. The problem here is our “creative wrapping differences:” my gifts are all wrapped in coordinating colors with ribbon, bows, etc, while he is fine to “wrap” his gifts in a brown lunch bag, topped off with a BLUE bow stapled to the bag. (If your Christmas colors include blue, please don’t be offended.) I’m sure you see the problem.

And, is he laying awake at night trying to make sure we’ve spent close to an equal amount of money on each kid? Is he wondering whether or not the puff pastry for the Beef Wellington is going to be easy to work with? Is he trying to decide what “goodie” to bring to the next holiday party and when, on earth, is he going to have time to make the goodie? Is he worrying that our schedule is double booked or that we have enough wrapping paper to get the gargantuan amount of gifts wrapped? No, he’s not; he’s not worrying about ANY OF THAT!!

Bottom line, as much as we love Christmas, it can be a killer for us women, right? I mean, as hard as I try to be ultra-organized, shop early, wrap early, plan the menu early, bake early, by December 24, I still feel like I can barely keep my eyes open during Christmas Eve service and don’t even care that my Christmas outfit isn’t very inspiring. And for me, the true Enneagram 7, I’m already dealing with the fact that, “oh my gosh, tomorrow is Christmas; it’s all over already, I’m so depressed.”

So what are we to do? Do we adopt the attitude of the Kranks and boycott Christmas? (Hopefully you said no, because watch the movie.) Or, do we, for just a few moments every day, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, take time to play a few Christmas carols, go to coffee with a friend and enjoy a holiday brew, gather with our family before the big day, just because we still can?

Or, even better, how about taking time every day to think about the real reason we engage in all this Christmas craziness in the first place: the birth of a baby boy that would change the world. Personally, I’ve decided to take time to really sit in wonder, think about God’s amazing plan for us and for Jesus, the awe of it all, from the star to the shepherds to the angels to the Wise Men to baby Jesus. And, you know what? It really helps!

Keeping the truth of what Christmas is REALLY about helps to calm my festive frenzy and find peace, the peace of Christmas, even when my world is spinning from one Christmas conundrum to the next. It helps me remember why I really do love Christmas!

So as we are in the throes of Christmas crazy yet again, I hope you will join me in taking a few moments everyday to consider Jesus – the Baby, the Man, the Savior. It has made all the difference for me so far. And, it’s a much better option than going on a “Sleigh Ride” and not coming back until February, right?