Often, former procrastinators, what drives our desire to “perform well” as a hostess is the attitude behind the desire. What thoughts or feelings move us to forget to nurture the hearts of those around us? These can be a heavy weight.
Holiday gatherings can challenge us. The sooner we ask the Lord to attune our attitudes to His, the better we will reflect Him, the more joy all will have, and the more nurturing we will be.
Let’s pray early, asking the Lord to prepare our hearts to enjoy those who will be with us and to enjoy serving them. We can ask the Holy Spirit to come into our situation and exchange any reluctant attitudes we may have for His wise and welcoming perspective.
We can exchange resentment of extra work for gratitude that we have the space and strength to host. We can view chores as opportunity to draw others in to work side by side on behalf of everybody.
We can exchange expectation of irritating conversations for some pleasantly shared ground rules ahead of time and gently shared reminders.
We can exchange aimless conversations for meaningful ones that help us get to know each other better. (What are you most thankful for this year, specifically? What was your favorite Christmas and why?)
We can exchange expectations of disregard for solid confidence in our place in Christ and gentle answers when we might be provoked. We can set up boundaries we respectfully communicate in advance. (No children eating in the living room.)
We can exchange expectations of offense for expectations of blessing. We are quicker to be offended or blessed if we plan on being offended or blessed. The behavior we project onto others in our own minds is often what we see.
May we be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” (James 1:19) May our words be gracious and edifying.
Let’s plan on gatherings of imperfect people praising God and giving thanks for His grace through Christ, His goodness, and His provision.
What attitude will you ask God to attune to His own as you anticipate Thanksgiving and Christmas?
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