By the time we sing Silent Night via candlelight on Christmas Eve, chances are we’ll be doing so after having run as fast as we can to get there! If your life is anything like ours, the list of things yet to do before Christmas (on top of an already full-to-overflowing life) feels overwhelming: create decorations, bake cookies, finish shopping, mail packages, send cards, attend events, prepare meals…just to name a few!

While we’re in the final countdown to Christmas, it might be good to add one more item to the list that’s good for your soul: seek peace. Yes, the peace that’s found in quiet places of rest and refreshment. It’s the only peace for your weary soul, discovered in the true hallmark of Christmas: Jesus himself.

Can you find one solid hour for yourself in the coming week to ponder the meaning of Advent and Christmas? A few ideas to consider: use the hour to be alone and reflect in your journal on the gifts of the season and the joy of knowing Jesus; put headphones on and listen to Handel’s Messiah or other classical music of the Advent and Christmas season and let your heart soar with praise; sit by a fire in a darkened room, pray quietly and enjoy the warmth that radiates; put your feet up in your most comfortable chair and savor the sights and smells of your decorated home thanking Jesus for being a part of his family; take a walk in the woods or by the ocean (or another body of water) and consider the vastness of God’s creation that Jesus entered on that first Christmas morning; stop in the middle of a crowded street and look prayerfully around you at the myriad of souls crying out for a Savior.

There are many options to consider as you await the singing of Silent Night by candlelight on Christmas Eve. Will you rush your way to the manger once more? Choose now to enter the joy of Christmas with the true peace of Jesus reigning in your heart and soul.