“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business,
and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without,
and that ye may have lack of nothing.”
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Christmas brings out the creativity in talented people, and even want-to-be creatives like me. I love seeing the diversity of people’s decorating, hosting, gift-giving, and holiday cooking skills. It’s interesting that no two homes are alike. Each one displays the beautiful creativity as unique as the families behind the doors. Often, hobbies are great resources for making these Christmas celebrations the wonderful festivities we love. It’s simply fun that everyone can do it—children and adults alike. There’s no right or wrong way. With even simple design and craft skills, we can all learn to make our own party decorations, become great hostesses, make personalized gifts, experience with new recipes and share our life’s blessings with others.
Creativity has endless possibilities, no matter our skill set or financial status. Our hobbies should suit our abilities, passions and purposes. We should never feel undue pressure, shame or guilt for not measuring up to professionals or social media posts.
I like being creative and learning to make things with my hands. There’s a pleasant satisfaction in taking an idea, designing the pattern, gathering raw materials, and putting it all together to make a pretty or practical item.
It’s fun to invest our time, talents and treasures in providing festive places to celebrate, while making long-lasting memories with those we love. How we do that is up to us, and there are many creative ways to make it happen:
Celebrating with our Time
Every time we make time for others, they see that we took time for them. Using our hobby time, to celebrate special occasions with homemade gifts, for friends, family, co-workers or acquaintances says, “I value you and want to share my limited time with you. You mean more to me than a thoughtless gift I bought on sale at the last minute for you.”
Celebrating with our Talents
God blessed each of us with our own talents and we should celebrate with them. They make us special and unique and make the world the beautiful place it is. One of the worse things we can do is try to be like everyone else and hide our own God-given creativity. The holiday season is a great time to incorporate our talents and hobbies into our celebrations.
Celebrating with our Treasures
Sharing what we make is a great way to celebrate the treasures we have been blessed with. We can re-gift tools and materials or repair and repurpose things we don’t want anymore. It’s how we give away some of ourselves and not just our stuff. God doesn’t bless us so we can hoard those blessings for ourselves.
Hobbies often seem like self-indulgent endeavors that we only engage in at our leisure and for our pleasure. But, they are also experiences we can use for a greater good—sharing God’s blessings with others.
Celebrating with what we enjoy makes our celebrations even more personable and enjoyable. Let’s continue growing our talents and skills, practicing our smiles, and sharing our hobbies in creative ways that could bring a “new happy” to 2022.
“She looketh well to the ways of her household,
and eateth not the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27
Bring It Home
How do use your hobbies or creativity to celebrate Christmas?
Praying for you as we grow together,
Smiles, BRC
I enjoy painting, but I seem to wait until holidays, birthdays or other special occasions to gift these handmade items to others. Im looking forward to jumping into this most fulfilling hobby for my family this year. For our own walls and shelves, while continuing to share with others.
That sounds fun and exciting Aly!
I look forward to seeing your work.
Enjoy! Happy New Year!
?Smiles, BRC
First, I want to thank you, Beth for your creativity and faithfulness to post your weekly inspirations and encouragements throughout 2021. Your discipline and dedication are becoming more rare and valuable characteristic with each passing day. Additionally, I truly appreciate a good communicator, and even more so those who are gifted at drawing others out of their shell and creatively including them in conversations. You, my dear, are a master at this. Well done!
Now, to answer your question as to how I use the holidays to express creativity or include hobbies.
Well, it has long been a passion of mine to entertain and welcome new and old friends into my home. Though I enjoy decorating and making my surroundings beautiful, inviting and comfortable, my greater passion is expressed in the creativity God has given me to execute unique ways to help my guests get to know each other better, sometimes with music, an icebreaker, game or unusual activity. I suppose being a shy, unpopular and often overlooked child was the fuel God used to motivate my passion for inclusion. And, since I believe that personal growth and positive change only happens within the context of relationships, my passion is to create opportunities for connections to happen. I also believe It is often within our relationships that we can also sometimes suffer and wrestle to express the image, purpose, and uniqueness that Father God, Holy Spirit, and The Son, Jesus designed within each of us. Therefore, creating ways to foster meaningful and lasting connections between people groups has been and is very important to me.
Every person is special, interesting, and uniquely created by the Holy Trinity. I am realizing (much later in life that I wish) that there is so much more to explore and learn about each individual. And, it is only when I take the time and energy to get past the surface that I learn more about the heart and experiences of another. Thus information also allows me to not only appreciate them, but to have more compassion and understanding of their behaviors and seeming “flaws”. I’ve also learned that these “flaws” can actually be viewed as an invitation (from God) to change my focus (usually off me, my perceptions, or their “flaws”) and get to know them and their experiences by asking gentle, probing questions.
What better time than Christmas where we celebrate the birth of the Messiah in human flesh to not only become better acquainted with each other, but to also learn more about Jesus…His uniqueness, His passions, His adventures, His struggles, His experiences, His “hobbies’ and talents, and His amazing creativity. In fact, what if we would consider doing this throughout the year too?
Thank you for your kind, encouraging words Martha.
What a lovely way to use your creativity and hospitality to transition your isolation into inclusion! That is a gift that keeps giving.
?Smiles, BRC