Christmas is only 8 days away. Does that make your stress level and your blood pressure rise just a little!?

I’ve been following a Twitter account which tweets a Christmas countdown every day, mapping out the days, hours and minutes left until Christmas. I don’t know why I subjected myself to those stress inducing tweets each day, but I have to admit it’s been kind of fun!

Yet the downside is that each time I come across a tweet reminding me of how the month of December is all too quickly ticking away, my mind is immediately drawn to focus on all my undone things and I instantly start reviewing a mental checklist of to-do’s. With each countdown reminder, my focus cswitches from the joy of the season to the task juggling of the season instead. Let’s face it, staying focused on Jesus during the holiday season is a daily battle for a lot of us simply because of the culture we live in.

My Proverbs 31 Devotion today talks about adjusting our focus, and how my battle with a wobbly Christmas tree a few years ago became the grinch that stole my Christmas, because I was focused on the wrong thing – insstead of the One thing I was supposed to be praising. It was an experience that I have tucked into my heart to help me remember to stay focused on Jesus Christ each and every year.  If you are struggling with staying focused on Christ this month instead of the chaos of the season, hop over and read my devotion for some encouragement.

Now for the fun stuff……..In today’s devotion, I promised to provide a creative, budget friendly Christmas gift idea – and what is more budget friendly than FREE??!!

I love this time of year because it is the season of giving, so in the spirit of giving, I am offering to give away my 7 free gifts for a limited time with the purchase of one or more copies of my new book Stressed-Less Living: Finding God’s Peace In Your Chaotic World.  If you purchase the book by 12/24, you will automatically receive the 7 free gifts, which includes a FREE 50 page bible study guide/companion journal to go along with the book!  Click here for the details about the free gifts and how to claim them!

Now for the creative, budget friendly Christmas gift idea.  Once you purchase Stressed-Less Living, and get access to the free bible study guide download, you can print copies for all your friends and family members – which is a meaningful gift for them at no cost to you. And to make the bible study guide creative and extra special, consider decorating each person’s binder with your own unique and personalized touch. I found some great ideas on Pinterest about decorating binders, so click here to take a look at my Pinterest board called Create A Stressed-Less Living Bible Study Binder. So if you’re still searching for a gift for that hard-to-buy for person, the journal accompanied by the book could be a great idea which they would enjoy on into the new year.

And for an extra holiday bonus incentive – if you order Stressed-Less Living from Proverbs 31 Ministries on December 18th or 19th, I will personally sign your book(s) before it/they get shipped out to you, and personalize them according to your request. Please be sure your full name is included in your order, or the full name of the person who you would like me to address a message to. We can’t guarantee you will receive the book by 12/24 although most likely you would if you live in the US, but you could still print the companion journal to put under the Christmas tree, and let them know the book is on the way!

So merry stress-less Christmas, and happy creative binder making! If you have a creative suggestion for personalizing the bible study guide for a loved one, feel free to share your idea in the comments section, or on Pinterest!