I’m not going to say it. You know- “don’t do so much this Christmas season, simplify, don’t get stressed, …” I know you won’t listen. So I’ll do something better. I’ll help you get through it.

Christmas feels like chaos to most mothers but here’s the good news: God does chaos best. Really. When you run around like a crazy woman, many of you feel guilty because the “shoulds” creep in. I should be more spiritual, I should slow down, I should cook better cookies, etc. Then the “shouldn’ts” follow close behind.

“I shouldn’t be so materialistic. I shouldn’t feel so stressed. I shouldn’t be a pill to my family members.” I don’t know which hurts more- the shoulds or the shouldn’ts. How about we ditch them both and be nice to ourselves? I think that’s what God really wants us to do. He wants us to love Christmas because in the midst of our chaos and stress, that’s when He comes closest.

God doesn’t hate us because we spend too much and he doesn’t shame us with guilt over how we feel toward mean family members. He loves us. He wants us- heads full of shoulds and shouldn’ts- to allow…