10 Ways to Prepare for the Holidays

Summary

Want a stress-free holiday season? Here are 10 ways to prepare for the holidays and keep Christ at the center.

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Podcast Transcript

Intro

Hi friend, I’m Brigette Henry. And you’re listening to the One Spiritual Journey podcast where I share stories from my spiritual journey and teach you how to walk closer with God on your spiritual journey. I’m so glad you’re here because that means you want a deeper relationship with God. In Colossians 1:28, Paul says,

“We proclaim Him warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

And that’s my goal for this ministry: to help present you mature in Christ. So, grab your coffee, or your tea if you’re a tea addict like me, and let’s dive into today’s topic.

The Holidays Are Coming

We are almost done with the month of October (as I am recording this episode) and we are about a month away from Thanksgiving. And, I don’t want to think about the holidays yet. But I know that as soon as they start rolling they’re all just going to roll together and it’s going to be like, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Just back-to-back-to-back. And every year it feels like this overwhelming, uncontrollable storm. But I don’t want it to feel that way. And I don’t think that’s God’s intention for the holidays.

I’m going to primarily be talking about Christmas today just because Christmas is the holiday that causes me the most stress. But the things that I talk about today can be applied to any holiday.

So my goal today is to help you, and help me, sort out the clutter. I want to help you identify sources of stress around the holidays and help you relieve that stress so you can enjoy the holidays the way God intended.

10 Ways to Prepare for the Holidays

So I’m going to give you ten ways to make room for peace and rest in your holidays. Are you ready?

1. Don’t let the holidays just happen to you

I feel like we’re always sitting back and just letting everything happen. People are coming at us and telling us about new events. And we’re just getting overwhelmed because we don’t feel like we don’t have control over our holidays.

Proverbs 22:3 says,

The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
    but the simple go on and suffer for it. (ESV)

We let the holidays just happen to us. And that is so unwise. If we choose to plan ahead, it’s going to help us decide what is important to us.

So, this is what I suggest. Gather your school, work, church, and family calendars and decide now what you are going to say “yes” to. Now I know for a lot of those calendars I just mentioned, like work and school, you don’t have a choice. About whether your kid is going to go to the Christmas concert at school or whether or not you’re going to go to the work party. That’s expected of you. And I totally get that. Not everything is in our control. But plan what you can. For the things that are in our control, let’s take control of them and make wise decisions.

2. Say “yes” to less than you are able to do

We should assume that things are going to go wrong. Kids are going to forget that they had school assignments over the holidays. We’re going to need to get last minute presents. People are going to get sick. There’s going to be snow storms, and canceled flights, and canceled events. And last minute events. We should assume that things are going to go wrong. So, give yourself extra margin than you normally would. You should already be giving yourself margin in your schedule for changes. But you need to give yourself extra during the holidays.

Say “yes” to less than you are capable of and you will be able to do more of what you want! Also, this allows us to slow down and practice rhythms of rest. And we really should be pursuing rest during the holidays.

3. Keep your quiet time and Sabbath practice

You might not have a Sabbath practice. I’ve talked about that a lot over the last couple months. And if you don’t have one, you can disregard and consider starting a regular Sabbath practice. But if you have a Sabbath practice, do not stop that practice because of the holiday season. Keep it.

And do not neglect your daily quiet time. We need our quiet time the most in the busiest seasons of our life. And by nature, the commercialism of the holidays makes this season busier. So to help us slow down, and to help us re-align with the mind and heart of Christ, we need to take that quiet time daily.

Now, you may need to be flexible with it. The holidays come with some really unexpected schedule changes so you may need to be more flexible in this season. And it may be difficult. But I want to encourage you to keep going with your quiet time practice this holiday season. It might help to get an accountability partner, or maybe to do an Advent study or something to that effect. I’ve also heard of studies on Thankfulness for the month of November. If you choose to do a study like that you could do it with a group of friends and you could hold each other accountable. And that will also help you make sure that you are engaged in God’s Word.

We have to engage with God first; we can’t just wait for Him to show up. So if we are going into the holidays, and last minute on Christmas Eve we’re throwing up a prayer like, God, please meet with me here, we’ve not prepared our hearts to see Him. We have to engage with Him first. We have to invite Him into that space and make space for Him. So keep your quiet time and Sabbath practice throughout the holidays. They are essential to making sure you stay aligned with God.

4. Recognize and Respect Limits

This one might be a little rough for people to hear. But there’s two things I want to talk about with this point.

Everyone has less energy

First, everyone has less energy in the winter. So if you’re like me and you are celebrating the holidays in the Northern hemisphere, you are experiencing shorter days and colder weather. And it’s just gross outside. When that’s the case, people have less energy. So as Thanksgiving passes to Christmas and Hanukkah, that energy dwindles. Even more than it has before. So we need to respect that dip in energy for our families and for others. And for ourselves. We need to understand that it’s just a natural part of life that our bodies start to slow down during the holidays.

And maybe, for those of us who live in the Northern hemisphere, that’s a good thing. Because if our bodies are naturally slowing down we can take advantage of that and slow down with them.

Respecting the limits of the season

The second thing I want to talk about is respecting the limits of the season. I’m not talking about the holiday season, but the season of life.

Every year is different. People die. Babies are born. Illnesses and allergies are discovered. Traditions may need to be skipped or removed as your family and friends grow and change. This also makes room for new traditions. For example, if new children were born in your family, maybe you want to implement some more traditions that are more family-oriented or children-friendly. Or if someone has passed in your family this year, maybe you want to add a tradition that symbolically pays respect to that person. Maybe if a person has passed in your family this year that means you can let go of traditions that weren’t necessarily important to the rest of the family but were just important to that individual.

It is difficult to change changes. It is easier to stick to the status quo and do the same things. But the reality is, we can’t do everything every year. And we have access to Pinterest, Instagram, and all of these ideas, and we need to decide what is important to us. And we need to respect the changes in our people’s lives. Whether that’s new illnesses that are discovered and so their energy is waning. Or if new allergies are discovered so we need to be more sensitive about what food we put out. Maybe someone lost their job so they can’t participate in the gift exchange this year, so maybe you do something other than a gift exchange. Let’s be sensitive to the needs of other people, and the needs of our family members, and our own needs as well.

5. Choose your must haves

Along those lines, you need to decide what is important to you and to your family. So if you do family portraits every year, or you like to get a live Christmas tree together, etc. Whatever it is that is your “must-have”, you need to identify it and then make it a priority. Choose what is a priority for you and your family and treat it like a priority, not like an afterthought.

I recommend scheduling these things. Like, if you’re going to go get a real Christmas tree, put that on your schedule when everyone in your family can go pick up a Christmas tree. And I recommend putting it on your schedule twice.

Again, this is the holiday season. Things are crazy and unpredictable. The weather is awful. Energy is waning. Let’s be flexible, and one of the ways we can do that is putting the things that really matter to us on our schedule twice. So we can make sure that they actually happen.

6. Keep things simple

Alright, I’m going to suggest something that’s going to be uncomfortable for some people. I love giving gifts. But choosing gifts for 40+ people every year is exhausting. I have to plan and choose the gifts, I have to order them or buy them at the store, gather coupons, I have to wrap them, I have to figure out when and where we’re going to give them because we go to so many holiday events. That’s a lot, and that all falls on me. Because I’m the manager. I’m the one who manages our family.

Bluey Shirts

So, last year, because we were in the middle of moving and I wanted to do something simple but meaningful, we gave everyone the same gift. For my daughter’s first birthday last year in September, I made my husband, my daughter and I t-shirts. She had a Bluey birthday party, and I purchased the Bluey font from somewhere (like on Etsy or somewhere like that), and I made shirts with the Cricut. So, my shirt said “mum”, his said “dad”, and my daughter’s said “birthday girl”. Everyone loved these shirts so I thought, hey, for Christmas, since my daughter loves Bluey so much and this is the first kid that we’ve had, wouldn’t it be fun if I made everybody t-shirts?

So we made shirts for everyone that said, like, Aunt, Uncle, Grandma, Grandpa, Great-Grandma, or whatever. Her cousins got shirts that say “cousin” on them. Her cousins LOVE their shirts. I made my daughter a cousin shirt as well and they love wearing them together. One the other side of the family, on my side of the family, we actually got together and took a family picture with all of us wearing our shirts. I made my husband and I “uncle” and “aunt” shirts so we didn’t just have “mum” and “dad” shirts. And my niece and nephew love when I wear my “Aunt” shirt. They get so excited. They want to wear their “cousin” shirts when I wear my “Aunt” shirt. It’s just very, very precious.

And the reason I did that was because all I had to do was figure out everybody’s shirt size, place one order for t-shirts, and then I spent one day where I cut everything on the Cricut and made all the shirts. And that was pretty much it. It was so much easier to do. All the wrapping was the same so all i had to do was get a bunch of wrapping paper. I didn’t have to worry about having the right wrapping stuff. It was just so much easier for us.

Choose a Gift Theme

So my husband and I have talked about making a habit of doing the same presents for everyone every year. So, maybe not t-shirts, since we already did that, but one year, maybe just getting everybody gift cards. And choosing the gift card based on the person but if we give everybody gift cards it’s easier for me. I have ADHD or something, and it is very difficult for me. I have an excel file for Christmas gifts, and still, it’s just very difficult for me to manage 40+ gifts. And so, giving the same thing to everybody just helps calm my mental load.

That might not sound attractive to you. And, if it doesn’t, I totally understand. I’m not offended. But, it might be a good option for a year, like, if you’ve just had a child or you are pregnant and about to have a child, if there’s been a death in the family, if you’ve been experiencing illness, etc. If there’s just something about this year that is difficult for you, choosing a gift theme might help you get rid of some of that mental load and be able to manage getting gifts for everybody.

There are lots of ways you can keep things simple. That’s just one big example because that has been SO helpful for me. For example, like, only make one kind of cookie. Like, I know a lot of people who are like, I need to make 16 different desserts for Christmas, and I’m like, you could make 8 of those and you would cut your load, and the pressure on yourself, in half. Make things simple. Keep things simple. Don’t feel like you have to do everything every year.

7. Have a budget

We have a gift budget every year. And Christmas is part of that. So, going into Christmas, I know how much I have budgeted to spend on everyone’s gifts, on Christmas cards, Christmas photos, PJ’s for the family because that’s the thing that’s important to me. I want to take a family photo in front of our fireplace with our PJ’s on. That’s what I want to do every year. And I know exactly how much money I have to buy PJ’s and pay for the cards to be printed, and pay for postage and all of those things. So, planning with your money is also wisdom that we find in scripture.

And planning with your money will relieve the stress of worrying that your end-of-year bonus won’t cover everything. When we are waiting on money that may or may not come, because, it depends on your job, but not all end of year bonus’s are promised. And if you have not prepared during the year for the expense of Christmas and you’re relying on that bonus, it causes extra stress on your family when you’re not sure when the bonus is going to come and how much it’s actually going to be. So I highly recommend having a budget, especially if you’re hosting in your home. So it’s not just buying gifts, but maybe you’re hosting Thanksgiving in your home and the expectation for you is going to be to provide a certain amount of food or a certain number of people. And it will help you to have a budget. Just look and see what money you have available and choose a set amount of money that you can spend on holiday events.

8. Change your mind

If you discover that you aren’t as overwhelmed or as busy as you thought, change your mind and say “yes”! If you told somebody you couldn’t go to a tree-lighting ceremony and then you find that you can, call them up and say, hey, I’m not as busy as I thought I would be. Would it be OK if I still came? There’s not a problem with changing your mind. On the other hand, if you find yourself not looking forward to a commitment and it’s stressing you out, you can say “no”. Yes, people will be disappointed, but you also need to make sure that you are talking care of yourself, and that you’re practicing rest and seeking God in this season. And if you are not able to do that because you said “yes” to too many things early on,  then you need to start saying “no” to some of them so that you can focus on God in this season.

9. Choose to dwell on Him

I would recommend choosing an advent study or Bible study to make sure that you are staying focused on Him. Engage with other believers and plan events like caroling or going to Christmas pageants that will remind you of Him. Make sure that you are inviting Him into your holiday season, whether it’s Thanksgiving or you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, or even New Year’s. Make sure that you are inviting Him into your holidays.

10. Rest

Plan time to rest. Put it in your calendar. Choose days when you are not going to do anything. Anything holiday related or whatever. Where you’re going to stay home, make hot cocoa, sit in front of the fireplace, watch a Christmas movie, whatever it is. Plan time to rest. And seek rest when you’re feeling overwhelmed. There is just something in the air during the holiday season that naturally overwhelms. Like today, I was thinking about taking those Christmas pictures and I was already feeling overwhelmed. And it’s not a big deal, but it does take time and effort, and I want to make sure it gets done. So I put that in my calendar and now I’m encouraging myself to seek rest and not worry about that because I don’t have to take care of it right now. It’s already scheduled; it’s going to be taken care of. Seek rest when you feel overwhelmed. Listen to your body when it tells you that you are doing too much and seek rest.

Announcements

So coming up for the next few months on my end with this podcast, my Instagram content, my website and all of that, I’ve got a couple things going on I want to share with you. So first, I’m doing the planning holidays episode because over the next four episodes (which is over the next 8 weeks) we’re going to be going through the book of Colossians. And the reason why is because we focus so much on the holidays and then we get to New Year’s and we think, oh man! I want to accomplish things this year! I want things to be different this year! But we haven’t given ourselves enough time to prepare.

One thing I love about the book of Colossians is its emphasis on everyday Christian living. And so, I want to walk you through, one chapter at a time, the book of Colossians so we can see how we want to apply that to 2025. Which is coming up in about 2 1/2 months, which is just crazy! So, I will be going on break and I won’t be doing any podcast episodes or posting things regularly on Instagram or engaging regularly on Instagram about December 16th to January 3rd. It’s a three-week break. But during that time, I will be dropping a bonus episode (that I’m going to record way ahead of time) on choosing your Word of the Year. So if that’s something you would like to do, I will have a Word of the Year workbook available to you the day after Thanksgiving so make sure you’re watching for that. The workbook is free, and the bonus episode will come out later in December.

I hope your holidays are full of peace and rest and I’ll see you in a few weeks as we start our series on Christian living and the book of Colossians.

Outro 

Thanks for joining me today! If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to like, follow, and comment so I can help women become mature in Christ. A few things before I go:

First, I would love if you prayed for me, my ministry and the women I impact whenever you get a chance. And if you need some help, I have prayers on my website you can pray over each of those things.

You can find links to the resources I mentioned today in the show notes. If anything is missing, or if you have any questions, please email me at brigette@brigettehenry.com. My name is spelled differently, so you can also find that email link in the show notes.

If we haven’t connected yet, let’s connect! You can follow me on Instagram for encouragement and to see the behind-the-scenes of my spiritual journey. I also have a weekly email newsletter if you would like to get updates on new podcast episodes, access to my freebie library, and more! You can find links to all those things in the show notes.

Lastly, if you are located near Northeast Ohio, I’m working to establish myself as a speaker. If your church has any upcoming women’s events, I would love to be your speaker! You can contact me through the link in the show notes.

Thanks for listening to One Spiritual Journey. I hope to hear from you soon! Bye!

Links

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Notes: 

Music by AudioCoffee via Pixabay 

Today’s scripture was read from the ESV (English Standard Version). See the transcript listed below for specifics

All Greek word definitions come from Strong’s Definitions. You can get access to this resource and more at blueletterbible.org. 

Find the transcript for this episode at: https://brigettehenry.com/10-ways-to-prepare-for-the-holidays