The Holidays at Art & Faith Creative…

Hi everyone,

I hope you’re all enjoying the last week before the Holiday rush starts!

Yes, it’s that time of year again…

And I don’t know about you, but I’ve already felt the stir of the Christmas rush as I scroll through social media and see all the beautiful things to make, the gorgeous locations that look like the perfect Christmas getaway, and ALL the beautiful things to buy and ooh and ahh over.

It’s been a little overwhelming to go on social media lately, hasn’t it?

I honestly find myself feeling inadequate… My posts don’t look like the beautifully edited professional IGers.

My emotions are all over the place… I LOVE all the DIY things to make and bake, but who has the $$ and time to do all of that?

Our minds are being overstimulated by all that we see... The Social Media guru’s know just how to market to us. (Just say something out loud and the next moment it’s on your FB or IG feed… yikes!)

Maybe you’re feeling this way too?

So that’s why I’m here today.

We can get anxious at this time of year. We see all these places to go and things to buy and we start wanting what we don’t have time or money for. We may miss something or someone and this Christmas won’t be the same. It’s hard because we feel all these different emotions.

I want to encourage all of us to take a break. We don’t have to let the deluge of social media rule our days, or let the many emotions we’re feeling overwhelm us.

We don’t need to feel like we have to

DO IT ALL…

Let’s remind our hearts of what IS IMPORTANT at this time of year. I posted some Monday morning encourage last week where I showed a calming ocean scene and offered some kindly advice. Watch it here:

But what I want to encourage us to do as we enter the Holiday Season is this:

~ Start our mornings in prayer and our Bibles. Let’s give the first 10 minutes of our day to Jesus and bring our thanks and requests to Him.

~ Let’s create a space during the next 5 weeks to relax and unwind from social media. Use that time to sit and read a book, watch a Christmas movie with your family or friends, or create in your December Daily. (More on that below)

~ Let’s set a goal of writing down our TOP 3 things we’d like to do during the Holidays and put them on our calendars now. Maybe that’s to bake Christmas cookies with your loved ones or go drive around and see the Christmas lights in your town. Set them in you calendar now so you don’t let them pass you by. AND…

Give yourself grace friends.

And know this:

YOU DON’T NEED TO DO ANYTHING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON…

and our Savior and King still loves you.

We need to remember to live in the grace that we’ve been given as Christ followers. So share the LOVE & JOY of Jesus this Holiday Season and REST in His finished work on the cross!

Here’s one way to share the true meaning of Christmas…

Last year I started an Advent December Daily, and it was such a great way to focus our hearts and minds on the “Reason for the Season.” We had almost 100 ladies join in!

Advent December Daily

I’m doing it again this year, and I’d love for you to join along! It’s an “at your own pace class,” with no pressure to do it any certain way. All you need is a journal of some kind and any art supplies as you have on hand. You could honestly do this with a journal and pen if you wanted.

This is how it will work:

I’ll send you an email every morning in December with a Bible verse, a short devotional and a daily prompt to inspire your creativity. You don’t need to do it every day, but it’s a fun way to bring our focus back onto Christ in this busy time of year.

If you’d like to join in, leave me a comment on here or on IG, or you can email me your email address and it’ll start on December 1st! (You’ll get an email after Thanksgiving with some helpful ideas on how to start this journal as well)

I’m really excited to start this with everyone, and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week!

Hugs to all,

Laura McCollough

P.S. Here’s what I’m telling myself right now:

K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple stupid… hahaha)

P.S.S. I just shared my annual hand-painted Christmas ornaments on IG today, and THANK YOU to everyone who bought one! I’m almost sold out, and appreciate all your support for my creative endeavors. I painted 12 little scenes from our retreats this year and they were so fun to make and remember all of the special moments from the retreats.