Hey friend! I’m so glad you are here and I can’t wait to share some thoughts about one of my favorite topics as it relates to one of my favorite times of year.
About ten years ago, I realized all the talk about finding balance in our lives didn’t sit well with me. And the more I considered why that was, I began to recognize that the times in my life when I’ve been most content and most certain I was doing exactly what God had called me to were seasons when I was definitely NOT living the world’s definition of balance.
Over the years, I’ve written and spoken about the value of lopsided living a bunch. You can find series I’ve written here and here.
Today, though, I want to focus on this idea of lopsided living during the holidays. And look at four key parts of experiencing a holiday season that best reflects our true hearts’ desires.
Sound good? Let’s jump in!
The 4 P’s of Lopsided Living during the Holidays
Prayer
As I thought about what is most important during our holiday preparations, one thing stood out — prayer. That’s where it all begins, friend. And if we don’t make prayer a priority BEFORE the holidays, it’s likely we won’t make time for it during the crazy season.
This year, I am working on a prayer for our family specifically about the holiday season. It’s one I will pray daily as a reminder to myself about what matters most and what I believe is most important.
But there are other areas where prayer is needed and I think a big one is that we pray for God’s wisdom as we develop and execute our plan. We want God to lead us as we decide where we’ll spend our time and our money. We need His wisdom as we fill in the blanks on our calendar. And we will definitely need His peace as we navigate the chaos.
The best way to experience the holiday season we most desire is to begin with prayer. #lopsidedliving Share on XThe biggest area where I seek the Lord’s wisdom is our next P —
Purpose
I want to identify the purpose of what we’re doing. Not just the big overarching purpose — remembering the birth of Christ — but making sure I have a good handle on the reason WHY we do what we do during this season. I’m a HUGE lover of traditions (and so is my family) but one thing we’ve learned is that as our family moves into different seasons, some of our traditions may not fit anymore. I don’t want to hang on to anything just because “it’s what we’ve always done. Instead, I want to be mindful of what continues to work for our family and what doesn’t.
Once I’ve answered the question of my WHY and identified our purpose for the season, it’s much easier to move into the next area —
Priorities
One of the most important things I have to remember and set as a priority is to choose moments over mayhem. Y’all, this is hard for me. I want to say yes to every invitation and enjoy every single opportunity the holiday season affords. But i can’t. because if I do, I’ll miss out on what really matters most.
Identifying our priorities helps us say “yes” and “no” with more confidence. Each family will have a different set of priorities — and we have to learn to respect those differences. The goal here isn’t to have a perfect Christmas but rather to have a meaningful one.
Identifying our priorities for the holidays will help us say "yes" and "no" with more confidence. #lopsidedliving Share on XAfter you know your priorities, it’s time to move into the last of our Ps —
Plan
Every year, our little family sits down and each of us share the one thing we’d most like to do as a family during the holidays. Those things get written down first on the calendar. Then we add in those work, church, and family commitments. We also add in those other things we’ve identified as priorities — like inviting friends over for cookie baking or a shopping day.
And we make sure to include in our plan time with no other commitments. Yes, we schedule some unscheduled time into our holiday season. It’s part of our plan.
Your plan, like your purpose and priorities, will not be the same as anyone else’s. And that is TOTALLY OKAY! And your plan may not work out the way you’d hoped, again, totally okay. Because life happens and sometimes it doesn’t happen the way we expect.
I’ve discovered that the best way to experience the holiday season I most desire, is to take some time now to pray and identify what the purpose of our season is going to be. Then we can set our priorities and develop our plan.
Want more encouragement for Lopsided Living during the Holidays?
As I’ve prayed and considered how to experience a joyful and sincere holiday season, I’ve realized there have been a lot of years when I focused on the wrong things. I asked the wrong questions as I planned.
So I developed a list of six questions to help me (and you!) keep our holiday focus on the true meaning of the season. Rather than toss them all at you at once, you can receive an email every couple of days with the following:
- A question for you to consider
- A few thoughts about why this question is significant
- A Scripture to meditate on related to the question
- A prayer for you as you contemplate your answer
- An action step to implement into your holiday plans
My hope is that answering these questions will help us prayerfully get our purpose, priorities, and plan in order — before the rush of the season pushes us into a frenzy.
If you would like to receive this email series, it’s easy — just fill out the form below. You’ll need to confirm your subscription and then watch for the emails to begin arriving this week.
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