Making Your House a Home This Christmas

“Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home… to long to be with their families.”

-Mother Teresa-

Mother Teresa knew a lot about family and she knew a lot about poverty, and despite all the suffering she witnessed in Calcutta, she believed that the spiritual poverty of the Western World was far worse than the material poverty of Calcutta.

She saw a sadness, a lack of belonging and a despair in the midst of the abundant monetary riches of the West. She saw it, and she called it out for what it was: a result of not feeling a sense of Home or belonging to anything.

In my opinion, there is no greater work than making people feel “at home”: first and foremost in the Church, but also in that place you lay your head at night.

As Mother Teresa said, we must begin first in our own homes with our own families. We have a crucial role in making the people around us feel at home and to know they belong.

Deep down inside we all have a desire for “home” — not just a place to live, but a place where we BELONG, where we are LOVED and can LOVE in return — a pretty great definition for “home” if you ask me.

One of the most beautiful aspects of the feminine genius is the ability to make the places we dwell feel like a home.

I’m not saying “magazine-worthy” — but an honest-to-goodness welcoming home, yes!

Who better than a woman to do that? Her very body can become a dwelling place for another human being (how amazing is that!)— and she is so good at it, that those little babies often don’t want to leave (babies of mine, I’m looking at you!)

Talk about hospitality!

That innate gift of hospitality often finds its way into the way we set up our own homes — and especially at Christmas, hospitality might include going that extra mile to make for a more festive and cozy, Christmas Season in your own home.

For us, Joy Sunday is the big day for Christmas decorating. We put up the tree and hang the stockings — and within a few days the last decoration is hung and we’re ready for the last week of Advent to begin.

I just finished up the final touches on our Christmas decorating, and I have to say, one of my big motivations is so that my kids will remember that cozy, feeling of “Home” long after they have left.

Most of all, I hope they remember how incredibly loved they are by John and by me — and by each other, too! That takes work. It takes saying “sorry” and “please forgive me” and it takes just “wasting” time together.

Honestly, we are a family that fights and makes up and fights and makes up — and as long as the “making up” eventually follows the fight, I’m totally okay with that.

My best word of advice for young families: stop trying to be the “perfect family” that never messes up and instead, aim for being the family that never gives up trying to love God and each other more perfectly each day.

As St. Paul says, “Love covers a multitude of sins” — well, that’s basically family life in a nutshell — at least it’s our family life, for sure.

So don’t fret too much over conflict, but I also would suggest that sometimes, we try to do too much to prepare our homes for Christmas (as if our kids Christmas will be ruined if there is no cedar roping!) and we lose the entire point of Christmas in the first place.

We forget to take the time to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus, and that is a shame. Jesus has so much for us and our families this Advent and Christmas Season — and sometimes we are just too busy to accept that grace.

So don’t get so busy that you lose the whole point of this Season.

Yes, finding thoughtful gifts, making delicious food and doing those extra things can be awesome ways to try to bless your family — but if doing that extra thing turns you into Momzilla, might I suggest you let it go and accept that it just wasn’t meant to be?

Best word of advice: make time for prayer and be realistic with what you really want to happen and what is possible for Christmas. Don’t overdo the things that don’t really matter in the end.

The good news is that Christmas lasts an entire octave of Christmas Days and then another few weeks of the Christmas Season, so you don’t have to pack it all into one day and practically kill yourself in the process.

A more peaceful, patient approach often serves to make for a better time had by all.

After all, your kids are not likely to look back fondly on ALL THE THINGS of Christmas as much as they will remember the way you smiled at them and laughed with them, hugged them and made them feel at home.

If making cookies pushes you over the edge, buy store bought from a special bakery or even Trader Joe’s — they have some delicious cookies that only come out at Christmas! There are plenty ways to make this Season special. Sometimes letting go of that “one extra thing” that pushes you over the edge is the right thing to do.

Besides, your kids are much more likely to remember snuggling up by the Christmas tree, the mantle aglow with candlelight, saying a rosary or talking about the things of life, then they are to remember the perfect meal or dessert that left you frazzled.

So do the beautiful little things with love, establish those beautiful traditions for your family — but don’t forget to make time for the greatest gift of Christmas: Jesus!

Make time for that little Baby, make room for Him in your heart. Make time for Jesus and the many surprising gifts He has for you and your family this Christmas. It will make for a perfect Christmas, if you ask me.

Merry Christmas to you! God bless us, everyone!