Relax, it's Thanksistmas!

I love holidays. Every. Single. One. Even the made-up ones. National Strawberry Ice Cream Day (January 15), Penguin Awareness Day (January 20), Hamburger Day (May 28), and so on. Life’s fun, so you might as well get on board!

 

But what I don’t love is the in-between holidays. And this time of the year, we can easily get caught between Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (and throw New Year’s in for good measure). And retailers don’t help. We start seeing Christmas commercials and ads sooner and sooner every year. They start stocking the shelves with all the red and green. I know what they’re doing. The sooner you get in the holiday spirit, the sooner you’ll spend money. And between the Halloween necessities, all the fixin’s for Thanksgiving, and all the presents under the tree, this time of the year can feel very heavy. Do you feel it? 

 

If you do, I want to tell you, to relax. It’s Thanksistmas. Halloween is over and we just have to look at the two (don’t worry about New Year’s, you have too much on your plate as it is) upcoming holidays that are meant to bring us so much joy and gratitude. So, if you don’t mind, sit back, relax, and follow along...and enjoy the journey! 

 

If we’re going to relax, we need to first understand that we can’t complain in the inbetween. That’s right, despite the cost of food, the busyness of the stores, the pages and pages of worthless items in Wal-Mart’s “Early Black Friday Deals”, we can’t complain. Complaining actually does something inside our brains that rewire us towards continued negativity. We actually get a little buzz off complaining and our brains say, “ooh, I like that.” So it’s easier to complain a little more, then a little more. I think Paul knew something. Look what he writes in Philippians 2:14-15, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky...” The truth is, complaining Is draining. While we get the slight buzz from it and the brain chemicals rush through the brain, they actually drain us spiritually.  That’s why Paul tells us, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) There is something freeing about choosing joy over complaining. 

 

There’s this scene in the awesome Christmas movie called, “Jingle All the Way.” Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking for TurboMan, “the hottest selling Christmas toy ever”, but it’s sold out everywhere. What ensues is Arnold and Sinbad in a mad dash against one another trying to get a TurboMan action figure. This pursuit leads to some wild shenanigans! The question I have for you, is simple. What wild shenanigans does chasing after stuff, even good things, lead you to doing? Does it lead to a deeper sense of joy? Here’s another question. How does the busyness and drive to get the right gift steal joy from Christmas? One more. Do you ever feel drained after complaining? Why? 

 

Complaining drains us emotionally and spiritually. So, what is the remedy? How can we relax in the in-between and when we get drained from all the holiday stress? Thankfulness when the complaining becomes straining. When we become overwhelmed, it strains relationships. It strains our margin. It strains our relationship with Jesus. To remedy this strain, we must choose to be thankful. Paul tells us in Colossians 2, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” This is how we relax—by resting in Him, trusting in His great love for us. 

 

So here are a couple questions for you to think about as you keep on reading. Why do you think it’s so hard to be thankful at times? How does complaining affect how we look at the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas?  

 

I stumbled on this quote by Christian musician, Toby Mac. He said, “Let’s stop complaining about the troubles we have and offer thanks for the troubles we don’t have.” I think that sums up the teachings of Jesus pretty well.

 

 As we continue thinking about how complaining affects us, not only does it drain us and strain us, it also stains us. Complaining actually steals our peace and leaves us with an emptiness that we fill with the wrong things. Money, stuff, mindless scrolling, comparison, consumerism, and anger are all results of a life that has no peace. And complaining robs us of our peace. That’s why we read in Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.”  

 

There is a hilarious scene in the movie, Daddy’s Home 2. “Old dad” Will Farrell (Brad) is trying to live up to new dad “Mark Walberg” (Dusty). Because he’s living a life with no peace, he tries to prove he’s capable and goes to cut down the family Christmas tree. I won’t ruin the scene for you, but in his haste to prove his worth, Brad cuts down the wrong tree, leading to a list of unintended consequences. But isn’t that how it usually works? When we’re out of peace, our life becomes very messy. 

 

Here are a few more questions to think about as we’re almost finished here. Do you think the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas are supposed to be peaceful? Are they? Why or why not? Can complaining change our attitudes at Christmas? How? 

 

As you are gearing up for the two best holidays of the year, there will always be something to complain about, especially as we wait for whatever is next in our lives. But God calls us to a higher standard of joy, thankfulness, and peace. What is one thing you can find joy in, be thankful for, or have peace in this week? When we can answer this question, we can relax. We can take the pressure off. We can enjoy the many blessings this time of the year can bring. 

 

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas (and Happy New Year, too)!!!!