Susan M. Heim is an author and editor, specializing in parenting, multiples, and women’s issues. She is a former Senior Editor for a major publishing company, where she specialized in the bestselling “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, as well as religion and teen books. Susan is the author of the books, “Oh, Baby! 7 Ways a Baby Will Change Your Life the First Year”; “Twice the Love: Stories of Inspiration for Families with Twins, Multiples and Singletons”; “It’s Twins! Parent-to-Parent Advice from Infancy Through Adolescence”; “Boosting Your Baby’s Brain Power”; and, “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More.”

Author and speaker Trish Berg reminds moms to keep it simple and keep it biblical. In the midst of sleep deprivation and Cheerio dust, she wants moms to embrace the wonder and privilege of being a mom.  Trish has been featured on ABC World News Tonight with Charles Gibson, Focus on the Family, Moody’s Midday Connection; 100 Huntley Street, That’s Life with Robin Swoboda and The Harvest Show.

My thanks to Susan and Trish for featuring the book on their blogs.  Please visit their sites for more inspiration!

So, let’s share ideas with one another!  Please reply with your comments and suggestions.  Here’s one to get us started.

Cancel the gift exchange for the grown-ups in your family.  Pool your money and sponsor a family who is down on their luck this Christmas through your church or charitable organization.  Instead, do a fun “rob your neighbor” gift exchange with your family and set a reasonable price limit on the gifts.  Enjoy the game and the interaction that it brings!

What’s your idea?

Of course, this was the perfect opportunity to talk with her about preparing for Christmas, and she shared with me a wonderful decision her family made just the night before.  Instead of exchanging gifts with the adults this year, they’re sponsoring a family.  In sponsoring a family, you provide Christmas gifts and a delicious feast to a family in need.  Many churches have programs to help connect you with a family, including information on clothing sizes, wish lists, and needed groceries.

Perhaps this year there’ll be even more families in need of assistance, so search your heart and your budget and see if sponsoring a family is a possibility for your family.  Check with a local church or charitable organization for such a program.  What a great way to spread the season’s cheer and keep in perspective the spirit of Christmas!

One of the first rules of good planning is to start with the end in mind; that is, have a clear idea of your goal.  What does a Great Christmas look like to you?  This year will be especially challenging with the current economic stresses.  Set aside a block of time and envision the Great Christmas you’ll have with those you love.  Now, pull out your calendar, a pen and a pad of paper and write down your description.  Talk with family members and get their input, too.

Next, draft a list of actions to achieve your Great Christmas.  Looking at your calendar, plan backward from Christmas Day, setting small deadlines for yourself for all the projects and activities you intend to do.  Schedule time for shopping, cooking, social activities, and for yourself.  Get detailed! Break it down to daily to-do lists if you can.  Remember, the more you separate the projects into small, manageable tasks, the less overwhelmed you’ll be.

Now, sit back and review your list.  You’ve worked hard to put it together, but now comes the tough part!  Prioritize the projects and activities.  Take a hard look at the ones that fall toward the bottom of your list.  Are they really essential to a Great Christmas this year?  Make sure you’re directing your energies toward and focusing on the priorities.  For the sake of reducing your stress level, give yourself permission to narrow your list to the most important items! 

Here’s another example of the power of a plan.  About one month ago we made an emergency trip to the vet first thing in the morning.  Usually a pretty calm boy, our 6-year-old golden retriever, Shannon, was crazed with pain and itchiness from a hot spot on his tail.  Wearing his e-collar, he’d spin around as if to catch his tail, but really he was after a soothing lick or two.  Out for his morning business, he sat in the cool, dewy grass, grateful for some relief.

The vet prescribed two medications, plus ear drops for another infection discovered during the visit.  The medication schedule included drops twice a day, one pill three time a day, and another pill twice a day for three days, then once a day for seven, then every other day until gone.  Whew!  My head was spinning.

So, when I got home, I opened a blank calendar page on the computer and filled in the schedule for the next two weeks of medications.  It took 10, maybe 15 minutes to do, tops.  When I was done, I felt such relief:  relief that I didn’t have to keep this all straight in my head; relief that we’d keep track of his doses in such a way that anyone in the house could pick up where another left off; and relief that he finally had his own relief, which freed me to get back to my other work and family demands!

Planning and organizing are great for this reason: they free us up to be present in other areas of our lives.  I for one am trying to break the cycle of mulling things over until I’m stressed out!  I’m learning to make a list, check it off, and set it aside.  Planning can help us stay sane with Christmas on the way, too!

• Get your list together and pare it down to the “must haves”
• Keep an eye on sales and free shipping with online and catalogue shopping
• Does your family or office, your circle of friends do a name exchange?  Why not suggest one, or revisit whether or not you’ll do one this year?  Maybe you exchange time together, or a service, rather than a present.
• Get creative with alternative gifts.  Not only home made gifts, but green gifts to charity or ecologically-minded causes.  Think in terms of giving in honor of the person instead of simply giving some-thing.
• When I need “a little something” gift for teachers, mailman, neighbors, I’ve found great catalogues for these kinds of gifts:  Walter Drake, Terry’s Village, Miles Kimball and Oriental Trading Company (great craft kits for children’s gifts, too!).
• Tame your spending:  Skipping Christmas by John Grisham is a great book that invites us to reflect on why we buy what we do at Christmastime.  Track down a copy, or if you only have time for a movie, Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis star in the movie Christmas with the Kranks,  based on the novel.

Dear Reader, what are your suggestions for creative shopping this year?

Reflecting on this decision, and the larger issue of our global economic future, I see that our celebration of Christmas, as we have known it in recent years, will be impacted.  And, I venture to say, for the better.

We have a big opportunity, this Christmas, to reclaim the heart of the season.  By bringing the material aspects of the season into their proper perspective, we can make this year truly a Christmas to remember.  We can start by focusing on the people, things and events for which we are grateful, rather than despairing over the things we think we’ll miss. 

One big part of Christmas for which I am deeply grateful is the music.  I’ve started a collection of hidden Christmas tracks–the inspiring songs we won’t hear on the radio, or those obscure songs from Christmas movies.  This year, I will celebrate these selections by featuring them on the blog from time to time.  Here’s the first entry:

A Quiet Christmas by Michael Gott

My heart longs for a quiet Christmas

Far from the hurry and the noise

Where peace on earth meets peace of mind

I long to find a quiet Christmas

Click on the link above and scroll down the page to another link to listen to this beautiful song.  This year we have the opportunity for the quiet Christmas that our hearts long for.

Dear Reader, please comment:

• How will this Christmas be different for you?
• What is it about Christmas that you’re grateful for?
• What songs do you find most comforting and inspiring during Advent and Christmas time?

We will provide some content from the workshop online, and will be in touch with that information in the very near future.  And, please register to receive the 7-Step Action Plan for a Great Christmas, email updates, and join the holiday conversation on my blog.

Presented by two working moms who’ve “been there, done that,” the Great Christmas Event will help you not only survive but enjoy the holidays with your mind, heart and soul intact.  Maria Rodgers O’Rourke, speaker, columnist and author of Prepare Your Heart for a Great Christmas, will share her reflections on the reason for the season, and how God is working in our hearts and actions during the hectic Christmas days.  Julie Hood, the “Information Organizer” and author of The Organized Writer, will lead us in her tried and true organizational secrets to take the stress out of holiday preparations.

The Great Christmas Event will be a delightful mix of activities, spiritual reflection and delicious food catered by Russo’s! There will be music, trivia, great giveaways, and select exhibitors with fabulous gift ideas.

Here’s what the workshop includes -

Part I: ENVISION your perfect holiday season. Spend some time reflecting with Maria on what a “Great Christmas” really means for you and your family.

Part II: CREATE your plans and schedule.  We’ll walk you step-by-step through Julie’s Christmas Strategies and Action Plans so you can create a customized plan for a Great Christmas.

Part III: you will work out what to GIVE this year, in spirit, in charity, in time and in gifts. We’ll also have terrific exhibitors on hand with gift ideas.

The keys to a great Christmas season are inspiration and organization:  inspiration to reconnect with the mystery and joy of Christmas; and organization to pull together all that needs to get done.  At the Great Christmas Event, everyone will leave the workshop filled with the Christmas spirit and motivated with a plan for a great holiday season!

Hurry!  Tickets are selling fast.  Great savings on tickets through October 10th.  Visit www.GreatChristmasEvent.com for more information, or call 1-877-528-0636.