Fall has arrived. Soon, leaves will be revealing bright colors reminding us the holidays are near. Change becomes normal, but the increasing amount of activities and festivities pack our calendars as tight as sardines. This “busyness” leaves us unable to breathe, stressed, depressed, and exhausted.
Normal for me means teaching children’s’ Church, playing my flute on our praise and worship team at church, blogging, and volunteering at our Word in Action‘s newest thrift store, “Bargains and Blessings.” But then, fall rolls around bringing extra church retreats and conventions, extra ordering of food and special items for November projects. Our
church makes 300 Christmas bags for Mexican children and Word in Action Ministries hosts a Thanksgiving Dinner for the entire county at our small church. It’s held on Thanksgiving Day and feeds an average of 700 meals.
By the time December arrives, I’m already worn out yet still have to face much shopping, decorating, parades, parties, pageants, practices, and programs. Everything I do at home has to be done at the church as well since we’re the pastors. There is the Christmas Choir performance, the children’s program, candy bags to make, and much more. Our ministry holds a special Christmas dinner for those we feed free nightly meals to, with a program for them, and shoebox gifts made by local eighth graders. Also on the calendar is the creation of 500 Christmas food baskets that we partner with the Ministerial Alliance to distribute.
This year we have a new event…it’s the birth of my 3rd grandson. He is expected to arrive December 15th. My daughter suspects she will go into labor during a church service or passing out food baskets. Nonetheless, it is time for us to cut back somewhere to survive. My husband actually gave up passing out commodities and we won’t be ringing the bell for Salvation Army either. My personal sacrifice will be reducing my blog posts to once a week instead of twice. I do have some special surprises and plans for my blog coming soon , though, so keep on reading.
Lighten your load this holiday season.
What can you do to lighten your load to get ready for the upcoming holidays?
© 2015, Jena Fellers. All rights reserved.
Jena!
I will just have to comment and say that I have never experienced such business and great blessing at the holidays as I have since becoming involved with Word In Action Ministries! My Family all lives within 15 minutes of each other so holidays with family is not a problem for us. We don’t get hung up on the specific day, but we choose a day that works best for the majority and we celebrate and enjoy family time together. The greatest blessing for me though is to see the joy on the faces of those that we minister to during the holiday season. For some…..the small gifts from Word In Action Ministry and the provided dinner are the only gifts that they may receive. To me, serving others has become what holiday’s are really all about!
Pastor Robin
I know it sounds crazy, but living away from family, I almost envy you the busyiness. But do pray the Lord strengthens you and gives you rest!
That doesn’t sound crazy at all, Jean. I understand. I thank God for all the help He has brought us to accomplish these tasks for in the beginning, it was us with a couple of friends. The more others catch the vision, the more we can accomplish for God’s Kingdom. Thanks for your prayers.
I would like to make the holidays less stressful for my household but it is difficult to do on my own. In my mind, there comes a time when we must stop trying to please others at the sacrifice of our happiness and well-being. Granted I enjoy seeing family during these times, distance becomes an issue when trying to attend all gatherings/events and creates a lot of unnecessary stress. Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your newest member to the family!
You’re most right, David. It’s impossible to please everyone. It’s especially difficult with blended families. You have to choose your priorities and often have to opt out on some family, even if it means going there every other year. I’ve also seen some get together between Thanksgiving and Christmas or after the new year. If it’s really important to get together, the day won’t matter. Thanks for still being a reader of this blog. Appreciate it.