This swap series will help us to finish out the year with an attitude of worship! Jesus is the Reason for the Holiday Season, so let’s keep our hearts and minds on Him this Christmas! Read the recommended Bible passages and the Christmasy blurb below. Send your partner a letter or notecard answering the questions at the end of this post.

Bible passages to read and reflect on this week:

Luke 2:8

Matthew 4:18

Luke 1:8-11

We all want Christmas to be special. We outdo ourselves with new recipes and decorations, planning the perfect gifts, trying to make this Christmas the best one ever. We can get so caught up in it that, in our attempts to do something extraordinary, we spend too much money, time, and energy on all the details. But the good news is that there’s beauty in an ordinary Christmas too. It was an ordinary night for the shepherds in Bethlehem. They were in their usual field, watching over their flocks as they always did. Then out of nowhere, angels appeared, proclaiming the birth of the Savior. God interrupted their regular routine with His Holiness, and they were never the same. We do not need to create something extraordinary for God to show up. God shows Himself to ordinary people doing ordinary things—like shepherds in the field, Zechariah performing his duties at the temple, or Jesus’ disciples fishing when they were called to follow Him. He knows where to find us too, and when Hoes does, beautiful things happen. We all want our Holidays to be special, but we don’t have to go over the top. It’s perfectly find to crave a little ordinary this Christmas. Let’s gather around the table with some hot chocolate and thank Him for the beauty that is found in an ordinary life.

How is the Holiday season shaping up for you? Is it extra special or pretty ordinary?

How do you think the shepherds felt before and after the angels came to them?

How might you savor the ordinary a bit more this Christmas?