Am I the only one who is struggling to adjust to the new month?
I don’t know about you, but all of the things associated with the transition from October to November overwhelm me. The days are shorter due to falling back. While I am grateful for the extra hour of sleep, I feel like I have to cram much more activity into a shorter period of time because the sun goes down so durn early. Now that it’s November, it just feels like there is more to be done and less time to do it.
I about had a heart attack last week as the truth that the end of the year is fast approaching stopped me in my tracks in the refrigerator section of the grocery store.
Publix getting ready before Halloween!
An obstacle course which feels like a minefield.
My heart starts to race when I see Christmas lights going up on my neighbor’s mailbox and I imagine that there is an unspoken race to be the first one prepared for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. November and December have turned into an imaginary holiday themed obstacle course with no real winner. You are first required to dig through thousands of recipes to identify the ingredients for your mother’s sweet potato casserole. Next, you have to hunt down the perfect present for your husband’s boss. Then comes sifting through 100 family pictures from this year to find the one shot where everyone’s eyes are open for the fabulous card you hope to mail out before New Year’s Day. Then, you have to assemble the perfect table scape for 20. If you make it through those obstacles, you are invited to the grand champion competition where the winner is able to wrap 30 presents with one roll of paper and half a roll of tape. Sounds like fun, right?
Just writing this makes me want to find a way to avoid it all by driving South to rest on a beach with a fancy drink umbrella as the only decoration in sight. What happened to the days when we celebrated one holiday at a time? Now, it seems that they have all morphed into one great long season of feasting and celebrating: Hallogivingmas.
A new way to celebrate.
Living in an obstacle course threatens to distract us from the point of all of the celebrating. The hustle and bustle just so we can show our gratitude to God and the people we love. Our intentions are good, our expectations are not. What if there was another way to celebrate gratitude and the most special birthday of the year?
I want to radically reorient myself to the One Who is Reason for the Season: Jesus.
I want to close out this year with more peace in my heart and my soul than I experienced upon entering this year. I want to dedicate more time to allowing Him to fill me with His love so that I can pour it out upon everyone else who is scrambling around me competing for best dressed and most beautifully wrapped. Are you ready to join me in releasing expectations and embracing imperfections?
This year, I am letting go of the expectation that this will be The Best Thanksgiving/Christmas Ever. I will work on accepting things as they are: flawed and imperfect. If we are honest, we really want to give our family great memories, don’t we? But the pressure is often just too much and gets in the way of our ability to enjoy the last two months of the year. Sometimes the best memories come when we can laugh at ourselves over holiday fails rather than the best meal ever.
Radical Reorientation will not happen if I allow my soul to be hijacked and distracted by the overwhelm.
So what does it look like when we invite Jesus into our November? We limit the length of our daily to-do list and add abundantly to our gratitude list. We allow more time for spontaneous coffee dates rather than text conversations with a friend. We start each day with a Psalm of praise focusing on the love that is available for us each day, rather than giving in to the feeling of scarcity. The more time we spend with Jesus, our expectations of holiday perfection are released and we embrace our own imperfections and welcome the imperfections of the people we love.
Radical Reorientation Requires a Plan
Release your expectations. Don’t imagine the perfect holiday that mimics what you see in a made for TV movie. Just because there are disagreements and burned rolls does not mean that the day was a disaster and warm memories were not created.
Recruit your team. Make a list of all the things that need to be done this month. Divide the list and see if you can recruit help so that all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas planning can be shared. Asking for help is the first step in embracing your imperfection.
Buy once & Pray often. Shop a little at a time for Christmas gifts with the goal of finishing the shopping before December 1, when Advent arrives. Make your list and don’t second guess yourself. See if you can spend as much time in prayer for each person on your list as you do looking for the perfect gift.
Abide daily. Allow yourself to sit still and be loved by Jesus for 10 minutes each day.
Seek to be the gift. Ask God to show you who needs your time this month. Instead of seeking perfection in the wrappings of the “perfect gift”, be the gift of a listening ear, a prayerful spirit, or a helpful hand. Consider joining my friend Jane in the Ministry of Hugs. This time of year, in particular, people are lonely and need a hug.
Take the time, this week, to make your plan for Radical Reorientation so that you end the year strong in the Spirit rather than run down and defeated.
Let me know in the comments below what part of November is giving you hives.