Reverse the Hurry of the Holidays With One Simple Trick

The hum in your heart—the song that rises when you’re in awe of Jesus—can get lost in the hurry of the holidays. It’s almost Christmas by my count of the calendar. So here, before the refrain of “thank you, thank you, thank you” marking the month of November, I’m making time for a mid-morning run.

I end my run miles from home on purpose so I can switch to a worship song on repeat, walk slow, and write on my phone.

So from leaves lazily floating to the pavement, a soft blue sky overhead, and a song that makes me forget anyone else but God is here on the trail, here’s my invitation to both of us:

Linger. 

Linger where the light makes leaves glow.

Linger where the sun warms your face.

Linger where cool air fills your lungs.

Linger where the music gives way to worship.

Linger where the candle flickers against the dark.

Linger where scents of home-baked waft through the air.

Linger by an open window. Linger by the fireplace. Linger in the conversations that fill the soul.

Linger where you note your gratitude.

Linger when it makes someone’s day.

Linger where laughter comes effortlessly.

Linger where you’re lost in the story.

Linger where precious pages of your Bible lie open. 

Linger in your prayer chair. Linger on your knees or with your hands clasped or your arms lifted heavenward in praise.

The key to reversing the hurry of the holidays is simply this: to linger.

The Measure of Success

If you’re anything like me, you can forget by the end of the day that the measure of success isn’t how much you finished. It’s how you lived.

I want to be the sort of person who lives with her heart tender and her hands open. Who freely offers the gift of presence. Who stays awake to wonder. Who lets what God’s growing inside show.

But I can rush on by all of it, mentally checking the to-do’s I carry in my head. Racing the clock until I crawl into bed.

November feels different. Slower. Slow-baked in gratitude. But I don’t want to tumble into it with shoulders still tense and my words clipped.

Who says we can’t savor the little gifts God scatters throughout our day before we begin a 30-day gratitude challenge? Or practice paying attention to everyday delights? Or spend more time with what matters and less with what doesn’t?

So these last days of October, I’m choosing to linger. Will you join me?

Practical Ways to Reverse the Hurry

Reversing the hurry of the holidays sounds lovely, but let’s get practical. Without a plan, I get swept into the busyness of the holiday season. I don’t linger. I squeeze in more and move faster and connect less. You too?

In order to preserve space for lingering, I give myself permission to do fewer of the holiday non-essentials. What’s too much on your calendar is between God and you, but I encourage you to have that conversation. Life feels lighter when we’re prayerful with our yeses and nos.

Next, I corral my spontaneous bent and plan ahead. I’m adopting the timeline I loosely created (and imperfectly executed) last year. 

• Before November, choose a gratitude challenge. 

• Before Thanksgiving:
  • decorate the Christmas tree
  • order an Advent devotional 
  • prepare an Advent wreath

• Before December, finish Christmas shopping.

What I found is that by simply moving earlier what I planned to do anyway, I felt far less stressed. Instead of our tradition of decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, we baked Pfeffernüsse and unpacked ornaments before Thanksgiving. Not only were we able to enjoy the tree longer, Thanksgiving felt far more relaxed.

Rather than stressing over Christmas gifts not shipping in time, last year we ordered everything for the kids before December 1st. This shift lent far more breathing room to Devember, despite the flurry of Nutcracker practices and all the extra in December.

There was more time to immerse myself in my advent devotional. More time to watch the advent candles flicker. More time to savor. Remember. Anticipate.

Planning ahead by choosing a gratitude challenge before November and an advent devotional before December helped me enter both months with a heart already at rest. I felt eager for Advent, instead of already behind, because I wasn’t crafting a last-minute Advent wreath the early part of December. And I was ready for and excited about a gratitude challenge.

Being ready means you can actually linger. It means the moments that can make you most alive, most in awe, most speechless in gratitude don’t get missed in the hurry of the holidays. 

How to Pick a Gratitude Challenge

Let’s circle back to gratitude challenges because most 30-day gratitude challenges begin November 1st. With endless options on the internet, how do you choose the right one? 

Here’s good news. You probably can’t pick a wrong one. Anything that helps you practice gratitude has powerful potential to awaken you to where God is at work in and all around you.

If you’d like something truly life-changing but with a low time-commitment, here’s one I created:

The Spill-Over Gratitude Challenge is an entirely new challenge designed especially for you. You, leaning into relationships with your neighbors and ripple-effect faith. You, cultivating year-round gratitude. You, imperfectly ready in so many relatable ways to spill over with gratitude that points the people around you to Jesus.

Learn more (and grab the challenge prompts!) below.

Advent Devotional Recommendations

Now, for advent devotionals, I’ve got several I highly recommend. 

For several years now, I’ve re-read Ann Voskmamp’s The Greatest Gift: Unlocking the Full Love Story of Christimas. Her way with words is like heart-speak and I find myself exhaling more easily after reading. You might leak some tears as you linger in this one. It’s my long-time favorite.

Last year, my friends Kristen, Kendra, Julie from One Story Well (formerly The Ruth Experience) released a delightful, relatable, and impactful advent devotional titled Merry and Bright: Rediscover the Hope, Peace, and Joy of Christamas. You’ll love it!

And this year, my literary agent (the most tenderly, in-tune to the Holy Spirit person I know) released a brand-new advent devotional titled The Spirit of Christmas: Discovering His Presence Throughout the Advent Season. It’s soul-stilling, heart-stirring, and Spirit-saturated. Definitely a must-read!

A Prayer to Reverse The Hurry of the Holidays

I’ll leave you with a simple breath prayer you can repeat throughout the day:

Lord, help me linger (as you inhale).

Keep me expectant and present (as you exhale).

Just a friend over here in your corner,

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