Nhà Thờ Bình An Trong Chúa Jêsus Peace In Jesus Lutheran Church

Christmas is over, it’s a new year and you’ve got an obligation to good taste to get those decorations down! Of course putting them away is not nearly as fun as putting them up but if you use these tips you’ll find it’s easier and you’ll be in better shape when next year rolls around.  I thought to add some practical spiritual tips as we pack away the Christmas decorations at Peace In Jesus tomorrow.

1) Get Containers for Everything. No more throwing everything into one or two tubs where fragile family heirlooms can get smashed and light strands become so entangled the end up looking like a double helix. Take advantage of the post Christmas sales and pick up a few of those big plastic tubs. Separate your tree decorations from other knickknacks you put up around the house. Give your lights their own home and wrap each strand around a folded paper bag (my family trick) or a good-sized piece of cardboard or you can even buy plastic light holders. This may seem like an extra step at the time, but it will literally save you hours next year. Keep spare bulbs with the lights and keep ornament hangers with the ornaments.  Get Containers for your Christmas joy, as well.  Consider Psalm 96, on which the Christmas song “Joy to the World” is based: “. . . let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy. . .” (v. 12)  While renewed during Christmas time, it is not packed up and thrown into the attic of forgetfulness in the mind of the Christian.  Be careful to contain your Christmas joy in an “easy-to-reach” chamber of your heart, to be brought out when life gets stressful or relationships strained.  You will have access to Christmas joy when you keep it in the forefront of your mind all year.

2) Protect the Fragile. If you’ve got valuable ornaments, treasured heirlooms or even just glass balls that easily break it’s important to store them properly. Imagine your heartbreak if that 100 year old ornament gets broken during “your watch”. You can no longer pass that tradition along because you were too lazy to put it in a protective box. Sure putting special ornaments into individual boxes takes up space and takes time but you’ll be happy you did and so will your children, and their children.  Protect the Fragile is a spiritual truth, as well.  God may have placed people into your life who are fragile in one way or another.  Perhaps physically, with old age setting in or physical challenges.  You may have spiritually fragile members of your family, or friends or acquaintances whose faith is weak or troubled.  Still others you care about may be struggling with the loss of someone dear to them, now feeling very alone following the holidays.  Consider how you may have unique opportunities to follow God’s direction in 1 Peter 1:22  "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."

3) Label Your Boxes. Once you’ve got everything sorted into its box then label it. You can use masking tape or a fancy label maker or just write right on the box. There’s no reason not to write, in big, permanent marker CHRISTMAS LIGHT BOX. By doing this you’ll always know which box holds the lights, no faded tape and lost labels that have dried up and fallen to the floor.  There is a famous quote by Friedrich Nietzsche: “What labels me, negates me." Some don’t like to be pigeon-holed.  But there is a correct sense of appreciating a label.  You are God’s dear child, and heir of heaven.  Remember who you are. Consider 1 Peter 2:9  “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

4) Store in Order. Once you’ve placed your items in a box and labeled them then take the extra time to store them in order so next year you’re not pulling everything on to the floor to get to the tree skirt or the garland. Figure out which items you need first, obviously tree skirt and stand before ornaments. Maybe you decorate your house weeks before you get a tree. Whatever your family traditions and style, organize your boxes and file them away appropriately.  Give thought to keeping your life spiritually orderly.  Not only living by your principles of what is most important, but centering your faith and life on Christ.  As God used Paul to encourage the Colossian Christians, “For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.” (2:5)

Decorating for the holidays is such a wonderful tradition. It allows you to bring an element of wonder into your home, as well as religious and family traditions but taking down those decorations is as much a part of interior decorating as putting them up was. Taking down the decorations indoors (and out) is key to keeping your home looking clean and tasteful and current. Using these tips for un-decorating will help you with that task and make next year even easier.  Praying the above spiritual tips encourage and open your eyes to new ways to serve those around you in love, in response to God’s tremendous love toward you.