Stewardship of the Season

I've been thinking about yesterday's post and trying to analyze why I have such a hard time with this time of year.

I could blame it on being alone.  I could blame it on the usual and expected excuse of losing my husband, and not long after that, my mom.  I could blame it on not seeing the sun - leaving for work and coming home in the dark.  I could blame it on our society's propensity to market Christmas and New Year's Eve to the extent that holiday expectations could never realistically be met.

The bottom line is that, over the years, it's probably an accumulation of those and more.  See video below... 

 

What does this have to do with stewardship?  I think that I have a responsibility to be a steward of the season.  To be crabby, or withdrawn, or basically appear like I'm ignoring the whole thing?  What message am I putting out there?   That I defer Christmas to the whims of the aforementioned marketers.  It's my job to reflect the long-term joy of the season, the coming of Christ and God's gift of salvation.  To bah humbug my way through the next month basically says that advertisement trumps the Word.

So I'll be trying to accept and cling to the promise of joy that the season represents.  Or at least fake it til I make it.