What do you feel when you are facing the winter holidays?
Is it a “Hallmark” time for you, or more of a “Nightmare Before Christmas”?
Thanksgiving and Christmas are supposed to be filled with happy family gatherings, good food, thoughtful gifts, and romantic gestures. That is, according to the advertisers.
We’ve been fed a bill of goods in lots of ways.
I often get blue this time of year. How about you?
Reasons for disappointment abound. Maybe you have a husband who sits in front of the TV and watches football while you’re cleaning up after the relatives have gone. Not to mention you’re wiped out from making the preparations.
Maybe you can’t stand being in the same room with your bratty little sister, but you do it because it’s expected and you have to keep the peace.
Or maybe you just have such high expectations that you work yourself into exhaustion trying to make everything “just right”.
The holidays can’t be perfect. There, I’ve said it. But they can be better.
This may seem like heresy, but lower your goals. If you sigh over those Hallmark commercials, getting sad that your life doesn’t measure up, remember they are like magazine cover models. What you see ain’t necessarily what you get. A little airbrushing covers up a lot of flaws!
Try to remember everyone has issues. The holidays aren’t the time to address them unless you absolutely have to. Accept your family’s flaws—at least for now.
Bless those who drive you nutso. Bless them with peace, grace, wisdom, healthy rest . . . whatever Scripture offers. Don’t go around cursing them with statements like, “She’s always so mean to me,” or “I hate having him here. He doesn’t even try to fit in.”
Declare scriptural truths over yourself and bless yourself with them. Remind yourself that you are made in the image of God and that He provides wisdom to those who ask for it (James 1:5). State that you are His beloved child (John 1:12) and that He delights in you.
Now the hard part: do you believe those things God says about you? If you must truthfully answer in the negative, ask Him why you don’t. Chances are you have an unhealed wound somewhere.
But He is faithful to bring truth and healing to our wounds. And if you keep Him in the center of the holidays, He will uphold you and bring comfort.
Take the pressure off!
all illustrations courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net