How To Make Time For Celebration
We pass by aisles newly adorned with holiday decor and festive offerings. We pass by homes already donning pumpkins and hay bales, tale tell signs that the holidays are coming. It is September.
“Too soon, “ I think to myself smugly, then move on to the next thing.
The heat in Texas is literally melting my boxwood wreaths on the front door, my flowers are wilting in the pots, hence my mind can’t overcome these external circumstances enough to give way to full fall decor and holiday planning. Perhaps you feel that way too in your neighborhood, in your stores, or in your heart.
With so much collective pain and tragedy of late, it’s difficult to give ourselves the permission to simply celebrate. Yet here we sit on the dawn of holidays with its myriad of traditions, and I wonder if it’s possible for the grieving to lead us into a place of celebrating.
Perhaps the bitterness of pain in this life is what makes the joys of delight all the more sweet.
If you are interested in finding a way to celebrate even when joy is at a minimum, let’s dive head first into the possibility of delight with these three ideas:
Explore the extraordinary.
If the idea of adding one more thing to your already overflowing plate sends you running for the hills or rocking in the corner, then take a deep breath and hang with me. Consider the ordinary things you do every day: make breakfast, clean up the house, drive children to activities, and run errands to name a few. Now go back through your list of to-do’s and think of one way you could do that same activity, but add something out of the ordinary.
For example, I make pancakes for my kids often and usually don’t have time or where-with-all to think of anything else. But occasionally, and always as a surprise, I like to add a little food coloring in there to add some color and fun. (They have natural food coloring too that works great.) Don’t want color, add fruit or chocolate chips, then sprinkle with a little powdered sugar. We like to do this in the winter for some “snow” in Texas. Something so small brings increasing delight, even for me who is making them.
If you are running errands, choose a day when you will stop for that seasonally flavored drink that gives you just the right pick-me-up to press on joyfully through the rest of your day. Work on that next project in a new location for a change of scenery or invite a friend to join you. Go out to dinner on a Tuesday night instead of Friday night, just because: why not?
Consider doing the ordinary with a little “extra”, and I guarantee you will be surprised at how it affects your whole heart and mind for the days ahead.
2. Allow for feasting.
Feasting, by definition, is to eat or drink sumptuously. I don’t know about you, but anything that has to do with an abundance of good food has my attention. Yes, we know to over eat or drink too much is a bad idea for a whole host of reasons, but feasting doesn’t have to mean over-indulging.
I wonder if we confuse the two and feel guilty about something that we were intended to enjoy. We can enjoy a luxurious or magnificent meal and delight in it no matter what the day holds.
Our emphasis on body image has stifled the enjoyment of eating that cookie or allowing those extra carbs. Even the culture’s pressure of productivity over presence has resulted in rushed meals and fast food substitutes. I’m convinced any meal feels magnificent when we actually take time to sit at a table and enjoy it. Don’t believe me? Try it.
Interestingly, also included in the definition of feasting is to give someone a plentiful meal. I’m not sure I’ve ever associated the two terms before, but equal delight is found when you do for others, cook for others, or give to others a lavish gift of love.
Let’s allow time for feasting and allow it to change our hearts in the process.
3. Accept the good gifts.
Friends, we are surrounded with opportunities to celebrate, but it does require us to say yes in acceptance of them. If we don’t make time for joy, and allow our hearts to delight in both the simple and extravagant, then we are missing out on the good gifts the Father intends for His children.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17 ESV
Throughout the Old Testament and particularly in the book of Leviticus (surprise!), God establishes His laws with His people. Part of those laws included seven feasts. These feasts were intended to bring families and communities together, help them remember the purpose behind each feast all while drawing their hearts and minds toward the character of their Father.
While each feast included a variety of foods and extended for various lengths of time, it was clear that these gatherings were to signify God’s great love and mercy towards His children even when they didn’t deserve it.
In fact, we are all simply living on mercy, and if that’s not a reason to celebrate, I don’t know what is.
Maybe you have recently lost a loved one and it would feel selfish or out of place to enjoy something nice. Maybe acknowledging the good in your life leaves you feeling vulnerable for the next hard thing. I get it.
Be encouraged that as you accept the good gifts from your Good Father, your heart will learn to delight more and more in His sufficiency for all of your needs and less attached to the things of this world.
So, if you feel ready to buy the pumpkin, buy the pumpkin.
If you feel ready to feast long with friends and family, by all means feast.
We were created for it, and it just might do you good.