Intentional Choices: Home for the Holidays
By: Kristen Neighbarger Published on: 13/12/2023When I was a kid, I knew what to expect every Christmas. We had very specific traditions that followed me into adulthood: On Christmas Eve, we went to my grandparents’ house on my mom’s side with my mom’s entire family. We had pizza, read the Christmas story, Santa came with gifts, and my mom passed out pans of cinnamon rolls to each family. On Christmas Day, we woke up, opened presents, and ate cinnamon rolls before going to my grandparents’ house on my dad’s side for lunch and presents. On Christmas evening, we went to my aunt’s house to celebrate with her family (the same family we had just spent Christmas Eve with!) There was little to no deviation in these Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions throughout my adolescence and into my early adulthood. There was comfort in these traditions–comfort in the fact that my family seemed to genuinely get along, liked spending time together, and was committed to continuing these long-established rituals.
Holiday Boundaries: Balance
As the Holiday Season is coming to an end and the New Year has our attention and focus, let me encourage you to seek balance in your own life. You might not be a ridiculously driven Type A personality like me, but whatever your personality is, I hope you take the time to sit down, reflect on the year behind you, and think about how to achieve balance in your world this year.
Holiday Boundaries: Taking Action
By: Kristen Neighbarger Published on: 21/12/2022If you have set a boundary for the sake of yourself and your family, and other people react negatively, you have no control over that, but you want to be able to walk away from those conversations and those situations knowing that you did the right things– You were true to your needs. You approached the situation and conversation with gentleness and kindness. You were loving. You didn’t throw a temper tantrum or seek revenge.
Holiday Boundaries: Self-Care
Before we even know it, the most joyous time of the year quickly becomes the most stressful time of year. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that just maybe this is not the way God intended the Christmas season to go down. For most of us, though, this is the way we have always done things. We run ragged attempting to create the perfect Christmas season for our friends and family at the expense of our sanity, mental health, and even physical health. May I suggest we do the entire season of Christmas differently this year?
