Hurry Hurry!! It’s time to shop and decorate and be busy busy busy!! Oh man… I sure love the holidays, but they are STRESSFUL!  I feel like owning our own businesses has added a lovely bonus stress that is like a cherry on top of a huge banana split. Some years it has been straight up crazy town! This year, however, I feel a sense of calm about the holidays.

I was talking to a friend today about being busy during the holidays and told her about one particularly awful year.  My husband had broken his foot and we didn’t have enough money to get it fixed. We couldn’t yet afford to have employees. We were exhausted making and shipping out orders. But! We were doing our best to make it all work. Some days my husband was at the warehouse from 7am-1am limping around on his broken foot just to make sure we got all our orders out. We barely had time for anything else. One night, while my husband was working late I was determined to do something “Christmasy.” I took my kids for a drive to look at Christmas lights and…I silently cried. I was NOT feeling Christmas. I was mad and tired and worried. Worried about my husband literally working himself to the bone and worried about loosing the true meaning of Christmas. Our business makes most of it’s money during Christmas time, so sales this time of year are essential for our livelihood for the rest of the year. There was no getting away from this part of “our busy.” It felt a bit like we were trapped by the rush of holiday shopping – even though at the same time we were extremely grateful that our business was busy and doing well. This is what we had hoped for! A busy thriving business that we created. We were forgetting a few very important things though- breathing being one. Ha! We were so rushed that we weren’t taking care of ourselves mentally or physically. We weren’t enjoying the beauty of the holidays. We definitely weren’t celebrating the true meaning of Christmas.

A couple of years later- My husbands foot has been taken care of and healed, we have a handful of wonderful employees helping us conquer the work load, and we are taking time to talk about the Savior daily with our children. We have made it a goal to put our focus on the true meaning and celebration of Christmas- The Savior being born. We are still very busy, but we are making time for what matters and setting priorities. The last few weeks we have made it a goal to have family night each Monday night and read a meaningful story about service. We asked the kids what activities they would like to do this coming month and are planning them out on the calendar. We have learned to pause and focus. Pause from the things that are rushing us and focus on the things that matter most. Our children, service, the birth of Christ, each other.

This year my focus has been on teaching my children about the Savior and giving service. Since this has become my focus I don’t feel so rushed by everything around me. I feel pretty calm. I obviously love to decorate my house, I love to give gifts, and I love owning my own business….but these things should not control me or make me so busy that I can’t enjoy one of the most beautiful holidays. I find when I do the important things first- being a good mom, reading my scriptures, taking time for service- the rest will fall into place. The non-important will be weeded out and we will find time for the things that must get done.

I love this new video-

I hope that you can find time to PAUSE and FOCUS this holiday season. Take a moment to decided how you and your family will celebrate this Christmas. Enjoy the true and beautiful meaning of Christmas- Our Savior was born!