{"id":39836,"date":"2023-12-05T01:03:23","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T08:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/?post_type=blog&p=39836"},"modified":"2025-11-21T09:59:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:59:05","slug":"how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Celebrate Advent When Life Is Busy"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love the Christmas\/Advent season, but I already know I won\u2019t be able to do everything I want to in the next four weeks.<\/p>\n

From deciding on gifts for everyone on my list and tracking those gifts down before Christmas, to prepping for friends\u2019 parties, to planning trips to see family \u2014 and somehow making sure I keep up with regular responsibilities and work in the middle of that \u2014 Christmas can be a lot. Sometimes I wonder if it\u2019s even possible to slow down and truly celebrate and enjoy the season.<\/p>\n

Amid all this busyness, trying to recognize Advent can feel like another item on my never-ending to-do list.<\/p>\n

Hurry up and wait<\/h4>\n

But I don\u2019t want to skip over Advent, no matter how busy this season will be. Advent prepares us for Christmas by reminding us of the tension between now<\/em> and not yet<\/em>. Just as the people of Israel waited for centuries for Christ to come, just as John the Baptist\u2019s ministry pointed ahead to Someone better, the weeks before Christmas give us an opportunity to wait. To remember that we are still waiting, though now for Christ\u2019s second coming and for the fulfillment of the rest of His promises.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure this isn\u2019t how God wants us to celebrate Christmas,\u201d my dad said after a frantic Christmas Eve shopping trip when I was a kid. We know we shouldn\u2019t be so stressed about finding the right gifts or doing all the activities that we miss sight of why we\u2019re celebrating. But how <\/em>do we keep from missing the point?<\/p>\n

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Attainable Advent ideas<\/h4>\n

The next few weeks will go by really fast. Here are a few tips for how to remember Christ\u2019s coming in the middle of the hubbub of the Christmas season.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t try to do it all. <\/strong>Put FOMO in its place. Pick a few Christmas traditions you want to keep and prioritize them, but get rid of the expectation that you will be able to do everything you want. Some of your picks may be just for fun \u2014 like making candy cane cookies or driving around to look at Christmas lights.<\/p>\n

Prioritize Christmas traditions that focus on Christ. <\/strong>Make sure that some of your activities reorient your perspective around why we\u2019re celebrating, but again, don\u2019t feel like you must do everything your friends or family members are doing. This year, I decided I won\u2019t read an Advent devotional \u2014 I\u2019m already behind on the year-round devotional I\u2019m reading \u2014 but I plan to watch the recording from Andrew Peterson\u2019s \u201cBehold the Lamb of God<\/a>\u201d Christmas tour. Maybe you\u2019ll fit an Advent devotional in (check out Boundless\u2019 devotional<\/a> this year), or you\u2019ll attend a Christmas Eve candlelight service or volunteer at a church outreach event or go caroling at an assisted living center.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to say \u2018no,\u2019 but do it kindly. <\/strong>Are you noticing a theme here? Christmas activities fill the calendar fast, and sometimes the only way to reduce busyness is to do less. Try to accommodate others\u2019 wishes when you can, but realize that sometimes you just have to bow out of activities you\u2019re invited to.<\/p>\n

Listen to an Advent playlist.<\/strong> While driving around to get gifts for everyone on your list, listen to an album or playlist<\/a> of Advent or Christmas worship songs. Turn it on when you\u2019re doing chores around the house or getting ready for the day.<\/p>\n

Combine tasks with spending time with friends. <\/strong>When you\u2019re Christmas shopping for family, ask a friend to join you as they shop for their family. Or if you volunteer at a food bank or at your church, ask a couple of teenagers from the youth group or maybe a visitor from church on Sunday to come along and help. Not only are you crossing something off your to-do list (like shopping for gifts), but you\u2019re investing in relationships with others.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Christmas is all about<\/h4>\n

In the end, there\u2019s only so much we can do to address our busyness. Despite our best efforts, we will be busy for much of this season. And that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n

Christmas is, after all, when we remember that Christ came to us despite all our striving, busyness and insufficiency, He came to be with us<\/a>. He entered our world \u2014 with all its chaos, to-do lists, and everything clamoring for our attention \u2014 and brought peace.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2023 Lauren Dunn. All rights reserved.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Practical ways to remember Christ\u2019s coming amid the Christmas hubbub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":39838,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[4,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39836","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Celebrate Advent When Life Is Busy - Boundless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here are a few tips for remembering Christ\u2019s coming in the middle of the Christmas hubbub and Advent season.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Celebrate Advent When Life Is Busy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are a few tips for remembering Christ\u2019s coming in the middle of the Christmas hubbub and Advent season.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boundless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/boundless.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-21T16:59:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/how-to-celebrate-advent-656df25fbbb87.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/\",\"name\":\"How to Celebrate Advent When Life Is Busy - Boundless\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/how-to-celebrate-advent-656df25fbbb87.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-05T08:03:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-21T16:59:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"Here are a few tips for remembering Christ\u2019s coming in the middle of the Christmas hubbub and Advent season.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/how-to-celebrate-advent-656df25fbbb87.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/how-to-celebrate-advent-656df25fbbb87.webp\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Advent Candles, wreath and small nativity scene\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/how-to-celebrate-advent-when-life-is-busy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Posts\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Celebrate Advent When Life Is Busy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/\",\"name\":\"Boundless\",\"description\":\"Find your place. 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