Holiday Expecations

I am writing this on Thanksgiving Eve. That means you are reading or listening to this after Thanksgiving. This means the holiday season is in full swing! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving by the way.

If you have left your house in the last several weeks it appears we can’t wait for the holiday season to get here. My early morning runs have been lit by Christmas lights for weeks. Santa has been camped out at the mall since November 1st, and Black Friday is now a month-long event. I am not hating on it. I enjoy it. I really do.

However, come January 2nd, a lot of us wake up with a bit of disappointment and regret running through our hearts. The holiday season never seems to measure up to our expectations. We feel let down and are left scratching our heads wondering, “Is that it?”.

This isn’t a knock-on exchanging presents or hosting Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties. Rather, this is an invitation to reset our expectations for this holiday season. Most of us don’t realize that we aren’t even the ones setting our expectations for this season. A lot of us just accept a vision that is sold to us by advertisers who just want our money. They are so good at their job that we don’t even realize they are the ones who are shaping our hopes and dreams for the next month or so.

I want to encourage you to be honest with where you are at in this season of life and set your expectations accordingly. I’m having to do this as I type. We have an almost 15-month-old. Each moment of our life is dictated by the irrational whims of a three-foot drunken caveman. We are debating if we are going to put up a tree this year because between him and the cat it will just be eaten. We won’t be roasting chestnuts over an open fire because at the moment our fireplace is barricaded off so the little caveman doesn’t try to escape through the chimney.

At this point, we have two options. We can mourn the loss of what once was… a beautifully decorated home with lazy days and long movie nights paired with our favorite wine. Or we can embrace the chaos and treasure every moment of it because this season is just that, a season. It will pass and one day we will be missing our little drunken caveman. Puberty will be here before we know it and his stocking stuffer will be deodorant.

So, here is to realistic expectations this holiday season. Try to embrace the season of life you are in and enjoy your reality.   

Grace and peace ‘til we rise in glory.