Recipe for a Peaceful Holiday Season
You know one recipe that increases the likelihood of enjoyment for all in the holiday season?
Forethought + Surrender = Peace!
My favorite practical tip for savoring the holidays is begin preparing WAAAAAY earlier than you think is necessary! I want to give you a first step toward preparing for a more peaceful holiday, beginning today. But first, the why. Why plan ahead and give anything meaningful forethought?
God is a planner, as we see in Isaiah 25:1 (NIV).
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.
Thoughtful, planful, and prudent are a few words to describe God’s character, so when we are thoughtful, planful, and prudent, we are reflecting God!
The opposite of forethought is neglect or shortsightedness. I think of it as being caught up and influenced only by our present season, which is the opposite of wisdom.
I certainly lived this way in college, before I was a Christian. I thought only about my activities for the day and plans for the evening. I gave no care or thoughtfulness to my future husband, future children, or future purpose in life. I made choices for what seemed like a good time in the moment and it had disastrous effects. The more I partied, the harder my heart became. I was calloused to truth and I wasted four years with nothing eternal to show for it at the end. I was wasting my time, wasting my talents, and wasting my life, being influenced only by this present age.
This way of life left no room for God or forethought. Now, I see who it was in accordance with:
“ . . . because of your transgressions and sins, in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God].” Ephesians 2:1b-2 AMP
I am not in touch with my college friends anymore, though I pray for them often. I pray each one of them meets Jesus and experiences abundant life now and forevermore. I pray the same for every person whose eyes are reading this right now – that includes you!!
Mercifully, we don’t have to live the way I did in college. If we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth, Jesus is Lord, we will be saved (Romans 10:9). It is important to live with Jesus not only as our Savior, but also our Lord, following His lead to direct His will for our life. We get to joyfully surrender to His call. This foresight + surrender is the recipe for peace.
I regret not surrendering my life to Jesus sooner, but as soon as I did, He gave me a plan and a purpose and eternal friends to walk with . . . they are still some of my dearest friends to this day, even though we live all over the United States.
God redeems!
I share this story to encourage you wherever you are in your own journey. There is no sin God will not forgive, if you would but turn to Him and confess. He will soften your heart to repent and turn from your past ways. Then, I promise, He will do more than all you could ever ask or imagine!! (Ephesians 3:20)
I hope you read all of Ephesians 2, but let me provide a few other words of Truth that follow after those verses I just shared:
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:4-9 (NIV)
Verse 10 is super exciting and it reveals what comes next:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Again, we see God as a planner! He has prepared in advance good works for us to do! What is that next step for you? What is something that’s been on your mind and you can’t push it away? Is it a nudge from Him? I sure hope we all surrender and obey and enjoy the peace that comes as a result!
As of today, we have 22 days until Thanksgiving and 54 days until Christmas . . . If you want to apply this formula (Forethought + Surrender = Peace!) to your holiday season, I recommend this as a first step to give forethought to the holidays: Begin the conversation today. I made it easy by including ten questions to ask your kids as you prepare for the holiday season together.
You get to connect with your family and gather their input by asking these ten questions of them over this next week. It will give you momentum to narrow your focus and follow through with action steps.
The next part is important too: surrender all these ideals to the Lord (because you never know what sickness lies ahead or changes in plans, but you can trust God’s plan and timing through it all).
This should be an enjoyable process as you converse with your family and plan your next season together. As Dr. Sylvia Frejd taught us in Mastering Technology so It Does Not Master You, conversation is the relationship. She also mentioned for healthy attachment, our children need our eyeballs, so I hope you deepen your relationship with your family members through conversations like this one, and I hope your children get your eyeballs today and in the coming weeks of upcoming holidays.
Ultimately, I pray the result for each of us is peace, especially as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ!
Blessings to you,
Laura
About The Savvy Sauce
Practical chats for intentional living
A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders.
They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!
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