As I was contemplating and praying on what would be most useful to share, these thoughts came to mind: Catch Your Breath, Savor the Season, Feel God’s Pleasure. I think these encouragements are so needed right now. The past 20 months have been a long and hard road for many of us. The loss of work, community, relationships and loved ones. We need to stop and allow our souls to be healed and restored.

The Issue:
Typically the Christmas season begins with a “bang”, like a starter’s pistol going off at a race. If we’re not careful we’ll get caught up in the craziness and find ourselves exhausted and running on empty. What we need is to unplug from the world’s pace, be kind to ourselves and those around us, and be still so we can connect with God and allow Him to bring healing, restoration and life to us.

Let’s Unpack This:
I’ve shared about the book, GET YOUR LIFE BACK by John Eldredge. He does a great job unpacking practices that will allow you to actually “get your life back” if you follow them. Some of these are: Get into Nature, Allow for Transitions in your day, Don’t try to be so productive, Detach from the news and social media. One of the tools Eldredge provides is the PAUSE app. It is a simple way to be reminded, and guided, to pause a couple of times each day to connect with Jesus who is the Vine from whom we receive life. I’ll be sharing on this topic of Catch Your Breath, Savor the Season and Feel God’s Pleasure this month. I would encourage you to start with taking a moment now and deciding what type of Christmas season do you want to have.

What About You?
So how about you? What will you be glad you did to slow down and savor the Christmas season? How about giving the PAUSE app a try if you haven’t before? Whatever you do be sure to unplug, create space and connect with God.