12 Days of Christmas: 6

By thissmallgroup, December 19, 2019

6 Geese a Laying

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….rest. All my fellow Type-A peeps, raise your hands! Being a Type-A personality, I feel that I constantly have to be doing something. I feel like I always need to be productive. Even after a long day at work and a long commute there and back, when I get home, I still feel like I must work on something when I get home, even if it’s something as simple as wiping down my kitchen or knocking out a load of laundry. On a vacation a couple years ago, I didn’t have any cell service and I had a hard time just winding down and letting myself not worry about work back home or paying bills or errands and chores.

The Christmas season can be one of the busiest times of the year. In addition to the regular tasks of cooking and cleaning and all the other everyday items on our to-do lists, we have to worry about buying presents for everyone on our lists, decorating our homes, cooking treats for neighborhood or office parties and making travel arrangements to visit loved ones. It can be overwhelming, even for Type-A personalities.

Even though we all may have a lot to accomplish during this season, we can only be on-the-go so long before we get burnt out. We only have so much energy in a day to accomplish all the necessary tasks. It can be tempting to push ourselves to get everything done and see all the people we need to see. But it is truly important to take some time to rest. Rest helps us rejuvenate and regain our energy for the next day. Rest gives us a minute to pause and take stock of everything going on. Rest also allows us a moment of peace, to truly understand what this season is all about and remember the true reason for the season (forgive me for the cheesy Christian saying!).

One of the most well-known verses in Matthew is Matthew 11:28 in which Jesus tells us “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” God knows that we are going to face busy seasons in our life. He knows that we can let all the items on our to-do lists get to us and get so focused on knocking tasks out and get stressed when we don’t get things done. In wearying times, He wants us to come to Him; He wants us to trust Him with all the items that we need to get done and let Him give us rest.

So in this busy season, take a minute to rest. Watch a Christmas movie, listen to some Christmas carols, take a drive to look at Christmas lights. Whatever way to rest works best for you, make sure to take some time to do it.

-Allie