Hello Friends,
Christmas will be here in 12 days! In our last blog, we talked about how this time of year can bring out conflict and we gave you 5 Tips for Difficult Conversations that could help you deal with that conflict instead of letting it ruin your Christmas season. With this blog, we want to have a little fun! With all the busyness of the season, we can sometimes forget to just have fun with our spouse. So we are going to give you our A Beautiful Adventure Christmas Challenge in hopes that it brings some joy into your marriage this Christmas.
A Christmas Twist
Here at A Beautiful Adventure, we believe that marriage is God’s idea. It is a good idea and it can be a beautiful adventure. Adventures are fun, so in turn, marriage should be fun! Marriage is literally spending your life having an endless sleepover with your best friend! How amazing is that!
Alex and I knew that we wanted to present you with a Christmas challenge this year and we landed on putting a Christmas twist on something very familiar to many. Most people have heard the Old English rhyme that tells what a bride should have on her wedding day. It says she should have, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a penny in her shoe.” Tons of brides (and even some grooms) make sure to incorporate these items in their big day in hopes of bringing good luck to their marriage. Let’s spin these elements in hopes of bringing some joy to our marriage this Christmas.
A Beautiful Adventure Christmas Challenge
The challenge is very simple and can be adapted for your unique marriage. It is great for couples with and without children, because it can be done just as a couple or with the whole family! Below, you will find each part of the rhyme broken down with a few suggestions on how to incorporate it into your Christmas calendar. Get creative and make this challenge your own!
Something Old
Perhaps you and your spouse already have a tradition each Christmas. If so, you can already check off our first point. Making holiday traditions and doing them together each year is so much fun. I asked our audience what their family traditions were and here is what they said:
- Watching Christmas movies
- Decorating the tree and reminiscing about what certain ornaments mean to them
- Driving around to look at Christmas lights
- Going to a special place that holds precious memories
- Eating specific foods for Christmas
If you do not have a tradition already in place, then the next point will be a good place for you to start this year!
Something New
Create a new tradition this year! As a couple, sit down and talk through some fun Christmas activies that you can do together or with your family. You can choose one from the list above or create your own.
To help you get started here is a list of Christmas activities to choose from.
Something Borrowed
Let’s get relational with our next point. Sit down with a family member or a close friend and ask them what traditions they enjoy during Christmas. Find one you have never done and ask if you can borrow it. This may even be an opportunity to deepen a relationship with that person or couple. If you can enjoy it with a family member or friend, do the activity together.
Something Blue
Now we get creative. Find a way to incorporate something blue into your Christmas season. You could:
- Decorate your house with blue lights
- Find or make a blue ornament for your tree
- Bake some cookies or other Christmas treats and put blue food coloring in them
Just have fun with this one.
A Penny In Your Shoe
For this last point, let’s turn our focus to others. Find a way to financially bless someone else. It can be someone you know or a complete stranger. The possibilities for this are endless. You can:
- Pay for someone’s gas or groceries.
- Walk into a restaurant and pick a table to pay for
- Go through a drive-thru and pay for the person behind you
- Pick a friend who needs a little help and leave a gift card at their door.
There is double fun in this one. First, you get to bless someone else and make their Christmas better. Second, you get to do that with your best friend! It’s a win-win.
Merry Christmas from the Paynes!
Our prayer is that you and your family have an amazing Christmas filled with Jesus, joy, and all the good things!
We are praying for you!