What Makes Keeping Christ in Christmas Possible When You’re Busy

As a busy mom, keeping Christ in Christmas can be a huge struggle. In the last blog post, we saw how easy it is for the hustle and bustle to distract from what is truly important about this season. Yet, that insight is also the key to keeping Our Lord front and center.

The key to keeping Christ in Christmas is to see Him as the main priority instead of an afterthought. Here’s how we can intentionally build prayer, service, and joy into this season, so our homes reflect the peace of the One we’re celebrating.

Keeping Christ in Christmas Through Prayer

Individual Prayer

It’s amazing how quickly time goes by when we’re scrolling through Instagram, isn’t it? Yet when we try to spend that same amount of time in prayer, it feels so hard to focus. The good news is that it doesn’t have to take a lot of time to work on a habit of prayer. Even 5 minutes spent with Our Lord can do wonders to anchor yourself in Him.

Start there, then work on building small habits of prayer throughout your day: Scripture reading during naps, a Rosary podcast while folding the laundry, or even a reflective journal entry before you go to sleep at night. These all build the muscle of a regular prayer life that will become more effortless as time goes on, and help with keeping Christ in Christmas.

Family Prayer

Bring your family into a rhythm of prayer in small, simple ways. Advent provides such a wonderful and natural opportunity for family prayer with the Advent wreath. Pick a time of day to light the candle(s) and say the special Advent prayer. My kids love blowing out the candles at the end. This post can direct you to some Advent Wreath prayers and additional ideas. But it doesn’t have to stop there. Even a simple church hymn sung with your children is a way to invite your children into a special form of prayer. It’s a beautiful Christ-centered Christmas tradition.

Community Prayer

Participating in community prayer is another way of keeping Christ in Christmas. Don’t be afraid to see how you can pray with your community. While going to Church is an amazing way to pray in community, there can be more to it. See if anyone hosts Family Rosary Nights or Family Praise and Worship nights in your area. It’s so beautiful to see families come together to worship Our Lord. If you can’t find something, consider hosting one yourself. It’s amazing what God can do when people (especially families) join together to praise His name and worship Him.

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Keeping Christ in Christmas Through Service

Serving in the Community

Serving others is one of the most hands on ways for keeping Christ in Christmas. Just as Christ serves the Church, we are called to serve one another. This goes deeper than traditional gift giving. It’s a gift of self — just as Our Lord offered Himself to us. Around Christmastime, there are a plethora of opportunities to serve. While small kids couldn’t help in a soup kitchen, they could learn how to let go of lesser-used toys to give to children in need. They could even help assist in preparing a meal to take to a family in your community who is sick or just had a baby. Prayerfully consider what service opportunities are around you, and reach out if it is the right season in life to do so.

Serving in the Parish

The parish community is another area where we can serve well, and that might be a little easier for those with young children. Check with your parish to see what needs they have: baked goods for a parish event, volunteers for the Live Nativity, decorating the Church, etc. Or maybe you’ve noticed an unspoken need in your parish. Talk to someone and see if and how you can fill it. One simple thing that our family does is reset the song books after Mass. It’s a simple task, but one that helps keep our Church looking nice and our songbooks in good shape. Remember that we’re not necessarily called to big and great things, but to do small things with great love (Mother Teresa).

Serving in the Home

There will be seasons (many seasons) where serving out of the home in any capacity just feels completely unmanageable. That’s okay. One of the most impactful places we can serve is within our own homes. Again, it doesn’t have to be big. Looking in your child’s eyes and listening attentively as he tells you his very long-winded story, is an act of love. Letting your spouse sleep in and then gently waking them with a warm cup of coffee and no expectations, is an act of love. Doing the dishes and praying over each person who uses them is also an act of love. These simple acts of love can transform our homes in the best way possible.

When your days feel full and peace feels far away, a little structure can make space for grace. The Intentional Day Blueprint helps you create calm, faith-centered routines that bring order to your days and make room for prayer, service, and joy — even during the busy Christmas season.
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Be Open to Seeing the Joy in It All

Joy in the Things That Went Well

Gratitude is a beautiful thing. It opens the heart to the truth of the moments — the truth that there is always something to be thankful for. It can be as simple as the beauty found in freshly fallen snow, the sound of a child’s quiet breathing as they sleep, or feeling satisfied after a warm meal. You have to be careful that you don’t miss it: joy often comes quietly in the most ordinary of moments.

Joy in the Things That Went Wrong

Even the things that go wrong can be opportunities for joy because they are opportunities for grace. In the last bit of milk that spilled all over the table, there is joy that someone is learning. As the cookies burn because someone forgot to set a timer, there is joy in forgiveness. When yet another thing breaks for the third time that day, there is joy in the laughter that comes instead of tears. There is joy in letting go of control in the wake of each mishap, and allowing God to fill us with His grace to see the moment through.

God Has a Plan for It All

The good, the bad, and the ugly — we may not be able to see it, but God has a plan for it. What’s important is how we decide to respond to it. I know so often I react negatively to situations because it gives me some feeling of control over it. But that’s not the point. The point isn’t to be perfectly in control. The point is to let go and let God be in control of all that comes our way. I created this video a while ago that still applies to this today.

That doesn’t mean that we are to be apathetic. On the contrary, we are called to do all in our limited power to make the most of each situation. However, when we have no power over a situation, the most important thing we can do is hand it over to God and trust Him with it. He is working even in the chaos, and He asks us to let Him be our Peace.

If you’re longing for more peace and purpose in your homemaking this season, grab my free guide: The Christian Homemaking Mom’s Guide to a More Organized Day. It will help you simplify your routines and make more room for Christ in every corner of your home.
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Lean into Christ this Christmas

Keeping Christ in Christmas isn’t about doing more. Instead, it’s about allowing Him to be present in us and to move in us. We may be called to a deeper season of prayer, service, joy, or all of the above. But we first have to realize that it is indeed a calling — one that we must look to Him to lead us in.

So often, our crammed schedules make it seem impossible to create a peaceful home life centered around Our Lord. Yet, it is possible. Download The Intentional Day Blueprint to discover how you can have peace in your home and your heart through flexible routines and rhythms centered around what matters most.

If you’re not quite ready for a deep dive, you can download my free guide: A Mom’s Guide to an Organized Day, to learn where to start and have an example peaceful schedule to reference as you make your own.