{"id":2314,"date":"2011-12-19T09:48:36","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T14:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2314"},"modified":"2011-12-19T22:35:40","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T03:35:40","slug":"the-end-of-christmas-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/12\/the-end-of-christmas-stress.html","title":{"rendered":"The end of Christmas stress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today is my first morning of the unstressed Christmas 2011. \u00a0This weekend at Special Gathering we had two Happy Birthday, Jesus! parties. One in Vero and the other was in Melbourne. \u00a0Decorations, cake, chicken, a pasta casserole, tuna\/macaroni salad and sandwiches were \u00a0a part of my responsibilities.<\/p>\n

These make up the fun, yet stressful parties we have each year for the members of \u00a0Special Gathering which is a ministry within the mentally challenged community. \u00a0Our only goal is evangelism and discipleship. \u00a0Part of our discipleship is fellowship and that means parties. \u00a0Functioning a lot like a youth group, as we minister, we desire to teach the truths of Christ and the gospel in as many ways as possible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I am now on vacation and spending a late, casual morning. \u00a0Other people are cooking and cleaning and stressing. \u00a0I’m loving it.<\/p>\n

My prayer blessing for you is that your children will grow up and actually (or pretend to) like you and invite you to their home for the holiday. \u00a0I pray you will have a wonderful Christmas and be blessed without stress. \u00a0I pray that Jesus become even closer to you this year and that you will enjoy His presence. \u00a0I’m enjoying my Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is my first morning of the unstressed Christmas 2011. \u00a0This weekend at Special Gathering we had two Happy Birthday, Jesus! parties. One in Vero and the other was in Melbourne. \u00a0Decorations, cake, chicken, a pasta casserole, tuna\/macaroni salad and sandwiches were \u00a0a part of my responsibilities. These make up the fun, yet stressful parties…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,334,3,287,186,49,16,8],"tags":[690,21,688,739,699,726,715,701,694,57,6],"class_list":["post-2314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-christmas","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faiths","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-christmas","tag-faith","tag-faiths","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-prayer","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nThe end of Christmas stress - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/12\/the-end-of-christmas-stress.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The end of Christmas stress - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today is my first morning of the unstressed Christmas 2011. \u00a0This weekend at Special Gathering we had two Happy Birthday, Jesus! parties. One in Vero and the other was in Melbourne. \u00a0Decorations, cake, chicken, a pasta casserole, tuna\/macaroni salad and sandwiches were \u00a0a part of my responsibilities. These make up the fun, yet stressful parties…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/12\/the-end-of-christmas-stress.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-19T14:48:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-20T03:35:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/12\/christmas-table-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The end of Christmas stress - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/12\/the-end-of-christmas-stress.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The end of Christmas stress - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"Today is my first morning of the unstressed Christmas 2011. \u00a0This weekend at Special Gathering we had two Happy Birthday, Jesus! parties. One in Vero and the other was in Melbourne. \u00a0Decorations, cake, chicken, a pasta casserole, tuna\/macaroni salad and sandwiches were \u00a0a part of my responsibilities. 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