God thinks I'm beautiful! Whether world thinks that or not! God likes my silly jokes, whether my kids like them or not. God thinks I'm cool even if world says different. God sent his Son to die for me, how much more special can that be.

Today, I ask you to truly dwell on fact that God loves you. Soak in it, breathe it, and then live it. When God loves me I can conquer anything in his strength alone. I do best when I give it all to God and throw my hands up and say, "God it is yours I can't do it anymore." It is a shame I don't do that first, but I'm learning and you know what God loves me in spite of myself.

6.Start a tradition of celebrating Jesus birthday. Ex. Happy Birthday Jesus cake, reading Christmas story before opening presents, or children having their own child size Nativity set to play with and tell Christmas story.

7.Set a limit on Christmas spending and stick to it. Don’t celebrate Jesus’ birth by being in debt in January.

8.Take time to pray and think about most precious gift of all. Often our quiet times are first to go when we get so busy. Using an advent calendar with children will also help them focus on true meaning of Christmas.

9.Be kind to yourself. You may not be able to do everything like your Mom did. Perhaps you can make slice-and-bake cookies with your children instead of homemade cookie dough. Your children will remember fun of decorating cookies, not who made cookie dough.

10.Remember that you are not superwoman and you can’t do it all. Sit down with your husband and decide who can do what on your list. Children can help put stamps on Christmas cards. Be kind to yourself and rest in our Savior’s loving arms.

I don’t know if you or I will have “Perfect” Christmas, but we can make a conscious effort to focus on our Lord. Things will go wrong and we will get stressed, but we need to keep our eyes on Him. We need to show and teach our children that Christmas is not about Santa and receiving gifts. Christmas is about ultimate gift that we can never repay.

So, I wish you a “Perfect” Christmas with Christ’ birth as your focus, and that you would be kind to yourself. Set reasonable expectations for yourself and experience true joy of Christmas.