Holidays can be times of incredible memories and meaningful celebration, but they can also be times with great struggle. Even when all goes according to plan, it’s not easy to balance Pinterest-perfect holiday execution with the aspects of celebration that point to God.
Think about it. If you’re looking at Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter, leaning into the fun, feasting, and festivities can easily cause you to lose sight of the real meanings for each holiday.
And Halloween, New Year’s, and Valentine’s? Well, it takes some serious spinning to label them as sacred holidays. Their origins often spur on lots of debate among Christian communities. Needless to say, they aren’t exactly known for pointing to God.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes; see disclosure for further details.*
But what if I told you it doesn’t have to be that way? What if I told you there really is a way to make every holiday sacred, as in, holy, but also set apart? What if I told you that you can have less chaos and more Jesus in each holiday?
I was introduced to the idea of sacred holidays by Becky Kiser a few years ago when I worked through a Sacred Holidays Lent study and was so blessed by my time digging in. That’s why I’m happy to tell you about another fantastic resource from Becky; this time her message comes in the form of a lovely new book.
Sacred Holidays Review
Some books are simply good books. Sacred Holidays is so much more than a good book and it’s more than a book with good ideas to consider. Instead, Sacred Holidays is part book and part resource. Meaning, it’s full of insights, tips, and tools to help you make the most of your holidays.
The best part is that these insights and tools aim to lessen your holiday chaos and to help you focus on finding Jesus in each of these days.
All of this happens by addressing holiday regrets while looking for new ways — better ways — to approach each holiday. It also happens through baby steps in these changes rather than instant transformation.
Sacred Holidays, One Holiday at a Time
In addition to the encouragement to approach each holiday in a new, more purposeful way, Sacred Holidays breaks down each holiday and provides insight on its background, scripture references, and multiple suggestions for making each day holy and set apart from the rest of the year.
Here’s a small sampling of the ideas suggested for each holiday:
- New Year’s – Choose a word of the year or pray over all of the Christmas cards you received.
- Valentine’s Day – Start a random acts of kindness tradition with your family or friends.
- Lent & Easter – Do a Lent study leading up to Easter or create a Jesus tree to celebrate all that Jesus has been and is to you personally. (Think of a thankfulness tree, but instead of leaves that represent a reason to be thankful, add leaves or flowers with words or names that represent Jesus.)
- Summer – Choose from themed bucket lists and work towards completing them as time allows or bless local school teachers with gift cards to help offset out-of-pocket expenses that go into their back-to-school preparations.
- Halloween – Pray over your street and be home with the lights on, ready to receive visitors.
- Thanksgiving – Participate in a 30-Day Thanksgiving Challenge or host a Friendsgiving.
- Advent and Christmas – Throw a Happy Birthday Jesus party.
In addition to ideas for making each holiday a sacred holiday, suggestions for birthdays are also included. Better yet, Becky shares practical insight on budgets, expectations, schedules, family conflict, and even grief to help navigate the holidays with this new mindfulness.
Bottom Line: Sacred Holidays is a wonderful resource for anyone looking to approach each holiday with intentionality and joy. It’s approachable, practical, and challenging, but full of suggestions and applications that Christ-followers in any season of life can enjoy.
Also worth noting, because Sacred Holidays is part book, part resource, I highly recommend a physical copy of the book. I’m still rocking my Kindle — I love it and read from it daily — but you’ll get much more out of this one if you have the physical copy. It would be difficult to utilize all of that awesome space for planning and reflection with the Kindle version.
Where to Connect
Ready to grab your copy? You can find Sacred Holidays at Amazon, sacredholidays.com, or your favorite bookseller.
While you’re at it, you’ll want to check out Becky’s other resources and connect with Sacred Holidays on your favorite social media platforms.