Sacred Holidays: Less Chaos, More Jesus

Sacred Holidays, what started as a ministry to bring advent and lent bible studies & reading plans have morphed into a book about making the holidays sacred. There are some things Becky Kiser gets right and there are still some things I feel she misses the mark on.

So let's start with what she gets right. She offers solid planning ideas and space to plan your holidays and birthdays. She offers grace about being different and doing holidays differently. She's adamant about learning how to say no so that you can say yes to the valuable things. I love that she wants us to plan 30-60 days in advance the holidays and birthdays, which would make my life so much easier, as we have 5 children and birthdays can be quite hectic since they seem to come back to back (March 4, May 3, May 7, May 30, & August 9). 

She helps us tackle budgeting because while some are natural budgeters, some of us are not (*raises hand*).  She helps us set realistic expectations of ourselves because it is easy to try to do it all the first year and it may not happen or it may not be consistent. And the goal is consistency. 

So, baby steps (Becky's words). 

So, with all that said, what could have possibly gotten wrong?  For me, it lies in the chapter on Halloween. That's one holiday I refuse to celebrate. Regardless to how you dress it up as having some Christian roots, it is a day that satan worshippers revere & celebrate as much as we, Christians, do Resurrection Sunday and Good Friday. I can appreciate what she attempts to do by suggesting that we engage our neighbors on the holiday and share the gospel.

Maybe we're those Christians because for us it's simple either you serve God or you serve satan by turning from God. Revelations is quite clear, being warm isn't acceptable to God. You're either all in or you're out.

For what this book intends to do, for the most part, it hits the mark: to have less chaos and have more Jesus during the holidays.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}