{"id":4616,"date":"2016-12-21T00:02:26","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T07:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mops.org\/?p=4616"},"modified":"2016-12-21T00:02:26","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T07:02:26","slug":"falling-toward-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/falling-toward-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Falling Toward Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"
How 10 Minutes a Day Can Change Your Christmas\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Hope, Love, Joy and Peace are the themes of the season. At church services around the world candles are being lit this month in honor of these holiday virtues.<\/p>\n

And yet if we\u2019re wanting to mark our actual feelings, we might as well be lighting candles for Stress, Debt, Chaos and Exhaustion. Because the season is full of expectations; mostly ones that we put on ourselves, and then we wonder why we feel like we\u2019re missing something.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s in large part because we are. We are missing the essence of the holiday. Buried under the wrapping paper we are forgetting that the holiday we celebrate every year is meant to bring our hearts great joy. It\u2019s not about stockings and cookies and gifts. Though those things can be very fun. It\u2019s about something much deeper. Our humanity.<\/p>\n

We are living in a time of hurt \u2013 families separated by distance and conflict, political lines and hard stances. In the midst of our hard-edged hearts we must remember the story. The story of God coming as the Prince of Peace for all of humankind\u2019s hurts. The big issues and our own heartaches.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s for this very reason that we celebrate Christmas every year. Because we need to remember the story. Our hearts need to remember. It doesn\u2019t take a big budget or any budget at all really. It takes a commitment to remembering the story despite our busy schedules.<\/p>\n

As you settle into the weeks of extra stress, set aside 10 minutes a day to simply remember.<\/p>\n