Today, we're pleased to share with you an audio essay written and read by Courtney

Rysig entitled, An Open Letter to the Overwhelmed Parent at Christmas.

Courtney is the author of Glory in the Ordinary, Why Your Work in the Home Matters to God

from Crossway.

An open letter to the overwhelmed parent at Christmas, written in red by Courtney

Rysick.

Dear friend, are you tired yet?

Maybe you stayed up late last night, stuffing and licking envelopes because you want to get

your Christmas cards out before it gets too close to Christmas. Or maybe you were up in the night with a sick

kid because Christmas season also falls smack in the middle of cold and flu season. As exciting as

the Christmas season is for a family, it's also utterly exhausting. There's just so much to get done. I used to start

listening to Christmas music in September. The minute the pool closed on Labor Day weekend,

I was ready for my next favorite time of year, after summer, Christmas. I began dreaming of how I would

decorate the house. I researched when all of the Hallmark movies aired.

I did all my shopping before Thanksgiving or right after, so my presents could be wrapped and shipped

by early December. I even made my Christmas list early. I wanted the Christmas season to last forever,

so I started it earlier than most. I wanted to savor it, appreciate it, and ponder the

true meaning of Christmas. So I worked hard to get ahead, so I could let it linger. My book,

Glory in the Ordinary, combats misunderstandings about the value of at-home work to help moms see

how Christ infuses glorious meaning and significance into every facet of ordinary life.

But then I had kids, four of them, in rapid succession. And now I looked up from the madness

only to see that it's already Halloween and I haven't listened to a single Christmas song.

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