Tis the Season
'Tis the season for cookies...
Reflecting...
'Tis the season for all the things I love about the holidays. But also thrown in the mix is adjusting to a new schedule with work, helping my family walk through different stressful situations, juggling multiple schedules and a myriad of other things that added to the activity of this time of the year can make life overwhelming.
But I'm doing first things first and this is how I'm dealing with the holiday stress:
💓 Time in God's word and prayer each morning which starts my day out on the right foot.
💓 Not allowing my to-do list to overwhelm me so that I shut down and don't do anything. I make myself keep working at it.
💓 As I'm plugging away at my list, I remember the saying, "How do you eat an elephant?" "One bite at a time."
💓 Taking time to get some exercise. The weather hasn't been the greatest and I'm not a fan of walking on slippery roads due to past knee issues. But even when I can't get outside, I try and get some steps in each day even if it's taking a break every hour and walking laps through the church.
💓 Remembering what's important. Not cookie baking, not decorating, not activity, but people. So when interruptions happen rather than get irritated, I stop what I'm doing and focus on the person.
We had planned on having our church's governing board over for a Christmas dinner tonight, but Nathan woke up sick yesterday with what seems to be bronchitis. So that has been postponed until next Thursday. That ended up freeing some unexpected time for me today. Rather than feel frustrated, I'm going with the flow.
All of these things are adding up to a pretty good month of December!
Make space, for time together, and time with God. It will all be fine in the end, and the superficial trappings - cookies,ornaments and jingle bells do not matter - we will celebrate Immanuel, God With Us - and that truth is what gets us up each day and keeps us going [writing this as someone who has just had One Of Those Weeks herself!!]
ReplyDeleteAmen!!!!
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