Tis' the Season

I have a holiday hangover. Thanksgiving came and went. I asked for prayer to enter the week with a grateful heart, and I left the week ungrateful, unrested, and with a bad attitude. No real reason for it. I skipped my quiet times with God. I focused on myself and what I wasn't getting, i.e., my way, my time. In our house, we call that out as a "do-over." Usually, it's just a day, not an entire week but you get the point. If someone comes down to breakfast with a bad attitude, that person has to go upstairs, maybe pray, cry, journal, whatever strikes his/her fancy, and return with a 'new attitude' (enter Patti LaBelle: Greatest Hits, Track 8).

So I am asking, right now, for a "do-over" this next season. I want to begin today, December 1st, with a new attitude. One with gratefulness, thankfulness, and focused on what really matters. Or rather, who really matters. It is His birthday, after all.

Isaiah 9:6: For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 

I love that verse. In fact, I just had an epiphany. I am going to write a devotional for each name of Jesus for December: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 
Will you join me? Even if you don't need an attitude adjustment. Maybe you just want to take a time-out from consumerism, elf on the shelf exhaustion, traffic jams at the mall, cookie baking, Griswold light decorating...whatever shifts your focus from the manger.

Look for the first post on Wonderful Counselor this Sunday!

and until then....

Engage your kiddos:

Read: Luke 1:39-56

Discuss:

Do you think Mary was scared or excited? Or both? 

Who was the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah?
Why did the baby leap inside Elizabeth when heard Mary's voice (v.40)?

Reiterate: We can start today with a new attitude by changing our focus.