To be completely honest, I was going to post something totally different for this week’s Christmas post. But since, as I kinda announced on my Instagram (hint hint: follow @daysofsunshinediaries 😜), I’m going back to what I originally started this blog for: to encourage others, specifically Christians, who have chronic illness. And it has been two rough weeks for me. So I want to talk about chronic illness and Christmas. Because it’s my life.
As I was thinking about Christmas, and how hard it is for me, not going to the normal Christmas parties and gatherings of my church and family. Actually, as I am writing this, I am missing out on my youth group’s Christmas party, because of my flare of pain. It’s hard. And I completely understand.
But I don’t want us to give up on the reason for the season. Sometimes we can so easily think that Christmas is all about the food, the parties, and the gifts, but those are the last things we should think of when we think about Christmas. We need to think about the amazing gift God gave us-His SON came down to earth to save US!
Sooo, how do we focus on the reason but not the things?
The world wants us to focus on what we need to get or have or do, and what our social media should look like during the holiday season. But when we have chronic illnesses, and aren’t able to get and do and even just look like everyone else on social media, Christmas is different. We’re different. But, honestly that’s okay.
Sin is in the world and we deal with the effects of sin on our bodies. It’s not fun. But it’s okay. Because one day we are going to have glorified bodies forEVER! So we can life with this earthly body for a short time on this earth, but if we believe in our awesome God, we will be raised with Him and have glorified bodies and praise and glorify Him for eternity.
Jesus Christ came down to earth to live a perfect life in a ‘messed-up’ world and died on a cross-the epitome of shame!-and rose again three days later to conquer death so we may live forever with Him!
How do I still enjoy the Christmas season?
I love the reason for Christmas! But it’s hard to think of all the things that people will be doing during the holidays while you’re stuck at home. But it really is fun to hang out at home! Here is a few fun ideas to do while at home, either alone or with friends:
- Learn a new craft-I am learning lots of embroidery this Christmas break!
- Play fun games with your family or friends! I know my family loves all of the Forbidden Island games, plus Clue, Life, and just simple card games!
- Read some good books! Christmas break is always a good time to catch up with some great books! I’m reading Adorned by Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth-it’s so good!
- Watch some Christmas movies! I think Hallmark movies are amazing! Or “Home Alone” 😝
- Listen to some good podcasts-oh I have so many favorite podcasts! But some of my most favorite ones are “That Sounds Fun” with Annie F. Downs, “The Porch”, and “ESV: Every Day in the Word.”
There’s a lot of hard things that chronic illness add to our lives, but we can also have so much fun-in our own ways.
Keep remembering the Reason for Christmas!
It’s hard around Christmas for chronic illness warriors. But I want to make things special for you all. Comment down below anything about your Christmastime. I want to support you in this season.
Products I talked about in this post!
- Forbidden Island games: https://www.amazon.com/Gamewright-317-Forbidden-Island-Card/dp/B003D7F4YY/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1AB7LXWOU59OO&keywords=forbidden+island&qid=1576615894&sprefix=forbidden%2Caps%2C257&sr=8-2
- Adorned by Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth: https://www.amazon.com/Adorned-Living-Beauty-Gospel-Together/dp/0802412599/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1576616158&sr=8-2
- “That Sounds Fun” Podcast: https://www.anniefdowns.com/podcast/
- “The Porch” Podcast & “Views from the Porch” Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-porch/id325418914 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/views-from-the-porch/id1413459689
- “ESV: Every Day in the Word” Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/esv-every-day-in-the-word/id1104407421
Love you all so much!
Mackenzie ❤️
Days of Sunshine Diaries 