A Force To Be Reckoned With
A Force To Be Reckoned With
218. Lacking Peace?
Ever feel like you're just stuck in a funk?
In this episode, we dive into finding peace in the middle of life’s chaos. If you’ve ever felt lost or uncertain about your path, you’re not alone. We chat about how doubt can sneak into our minds and how taking a step back to connect with God can help bring peace.
With the holidays fast approaching, we know the stress is real, especially with tricky family dynamics. We talk about how leaning on God can help carry those heavy loads, especially for guys who tend to keep it all inside. Sometimes, it's in those quiet moments with God that we find the clarity and peace we need to face the chaos.
It's easy to get caught up in the rush, but let's not forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas. So, take a step back, focus on what truly matters, and let His love be your peace this season. Merry Christmas, everyone. Love you all!
Episode Highlights:
- Ever feel like you’re lacking peace?
- Breaking the negativity loop.
- Fighting off distraction.
- God can turn anything for good.
Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on A Force to Be Reckoned With:
- Jointheforce.us
- Follow us on Instagram @bethanyadkins
- Find us on Youtube!
- Good News: Peace - Pastor Alex North Canton Chapel
This show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.
We are at war and it's not against our neighbors, spouses, children, politicians or whatever else we feel like we're battling against.
Speaker 2:So the questions are who's the fight against, and are we winning or losing? We're the Adkins, and we are a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 1:Are you ready to?
Speaker 2:join the force hello, hello hello everyone. Happy tuesday. I think we need to start coming up with new intros to mix it up like a tag, like a tagline yeah, how's it going this week?
Speaker 1:uh, actually not bad. Not bad, that's good it uh, today was warm. I actually went outside with no uh jacket and my short sleeve shirt, and it felt nice today was better than it's been, and it was a scorching 49 this week was rough oh, yeah, yeah, rough Side note little housekeeping, If you hear like a little kitten purring in the background. Or a piggy.
Speaker 2:It's not a kitten.
Speaker 1:It's a baby.
Speaker 2:It's a baby.
Speaker 1:I'm going to shut this door real quick so we don't have the cat thing happen again, I guess.
Speaker 2:We are about a week from Christmas. We hope that you guys are hanging in there. We're recording in a little bit of advance. Hopefully we're still alive at this point.
Speaker 1:If we're dead, this episode's not coming out bro.
Speaker 2:Oh no, it will, because if we're uploading it then it's going to be done. But anyway, I think I'm just a little bit stressed and I don't want to say about Christmas, but I've been having these dreams about Christmas.
Speaker 1:So the first one was that Don't worry guys, it wasn't me with a Santa hat on and a beard and it chiseled abs.
Speaker 2:no, definitely wasn't that the first one was that I I woke up. I went to bed one night at 9 pm and this is true, this actually happened. And in my dream I woke up from that exact night and it was the next morning, except it was christmas and all my kids came downstairs and I had forgotten that it was christmas and I forgot to wrap all the gifts. So I was like scrambling, like trying to go through everything and wrap and get everything in order, and it was horrible.
Speaker 1:Wait, were you like wrapping like W-R-A-P or were you wrapping R-A-P like no, I would have been better if I was wrapping. Like that yeah.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I was wrapping gifts. It was horrifying. I just need to clarify because I was a little confused.
Speaker 2:And then the other one that is now happening and I hope it's not recurring. I can't remember if it is or not, but we have a tree. This is real life. We have a tree, the kids decorated it which it's so sweet and also so chaotic, and we can't have the decorations super low because of the cat and so honestly, it doesn't matter where those decorations are.
Speaker 2:That cat climbs all up in that tree yeah, but also like the kids put the decorations on and so they're very clumped together and I was like it's fine, bethany. It's fine like this is. This is the season of life you're in and this is what it's all about and this is so special and they love it and they're so proud of it.
Speaker 2:But in my dream, like last night, I dreamed this the whole night. I just kept sneaking up to the tree when the kids weren't looking, and rearranging the ornaments like one at a time so that they wouldn't notice putting them so that they were evenly spaced. So I didn't think it was bothering me, but I actually it might be.
Speaker 1:Bro, so I did not have that dream.
Speaker 2:So funny, but anyway, we hope that you guys are doing well. And today, what are we going to talk about?
Speaker 1:we every day, we struggle and struggle and struggle, and yeah, it's not a joke.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so man we've I don't even know what to say like there's not even words. Do you ever?
Speaker 1:get only tears no do you ever feel the walls closing in?
Speaker 2:do you ever feel like running away to a desert island and working in a food truck and selling acai bowls with no cell phone, nowhere to return.
Speaker 1:You know, we've learned something there. There is something about when we were in hawaii and that lady who used to live in minnesota I think about that lady all the time you do realize she got divorced, right, yeah, and moved like she had it made and moved to hawaii.
Speaker 2:She sure did I don't remember but I remember her aura and it was a good one. We met this lady when we were in maui. She was selling fish tacos. She had a food truck. She was from they were very good fish tacos from minnesota she was from minnesota but she was living the life in maui and I just remember looking at Corey thinking I'm in, I'm in, babe, let's do it.
Speaker 1:No, there's no, let's do it. You just said she had it made. You're ditching me too?
Speaker 2:No, our whole family. But, this week. This week it was just me. I'll be honest, and if you're out there rolling your eyes thinking she's crazy, you're lying to yourself because you've thought it too. Okay, we all know you have, and it's not going to be the last time either we're going to get a podcast review that says I was, my life was terrible.
Speaker 1:And then I was listening to this episode and they made it worse. I divorced my husband and left my family, bought a food truck, moved to hawaii and it's been bliss ever since.
Speaker 2:No, but really, today we're going to talk about peace and like, how do you get it? So here's our first caller, because we don't know. No, jesus, are you there? Yeah, I mean, so this week was a rough one and I'll say I can't even go back in my brain of the week because it was just so. I don't even know.
Speaker 2:But one thing I think that we can both say is true is like both of us, for a little while, have been lacking some peace oh, for sure and it's been like days where it's better than others, but overall it's like when you feel that there's just shifts coming and you don't really know, like, what those shifts are, if they're big ones, if they're small ones, if it's simply just like needing to change up your workout regimen or what, but just you feel like this um, impending, I don't know feeling of shifts and I'm feeling of shifts and you can really, like I know for me personally and I think for you too, because I live with you, but like I can drive my when I start to feel this way, I don't like it and I can drive myself crazy.
Speaker 2:I just don't. It's like you kind of start to spiral you know what I mean Because it's just like one thing leads to the next and then you're down this like mental, like everything is hard and everything is bad and nothing is easy, and I can't take this and it's like, honestly, it's kind of like a victim mentality yeah, and you start just questioning everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like and like. Be honest, guys, like we're not crazy like you do this. I know you do this too you're like I'm gonna quit like everything I know.
Speaker 1:It's funny, but it's like I question my entire life's existence, but like it's kind of true like we all go through these moments where it's like, man, am I like, did I pick the right house? Am I at the right job? Am I at the? Do I mirror the right person? Did I? You know, it's like it this, like you start questioning kind of everything and then, like I know, for me it's like I start getting a little bit frustrated with god.
Speaker 1:It's like, dude, I thought you like you called me here and it's like I started getting a little bit frustrated with God. Is like, dude, I thought you like you called me here. And then it's like did you call me here? Like, am I crazy? Like then the then you're like doing this loop. I literally was doing this loop earlier in the week where I was like, like, did God actually call me to do this? And then it was like, and then I had to like remember and put myself back to when we made decisions and it was like wait, yeah, he did, he did call me back here. Like dude, no, you're right where he wants you to be. And it puts you in a bad mood too and it starts affecting the way that you treat your kids, you treat other people, you treat your spouse, and it just becomes kind of this negativity loop and so it's like, okay, how do you pull out of that?
Speaker 2:yeah, and what is causing it?
Speaker 2:right and I think again, the theme of this podcast is a force to be reckoned with. We want our families to be a force to be reckoned with. We want to be people who are a force to be reckoned with. We want our families to be a force to be reckoned with. We want to be people who are a force to be reckoned with, and that force is fighting against the enemy, and so, like, that is the theme, and we still forget. We wake up and we believe these lies, that like we're not where we're supposed to be, and maybe you didn't call me here and I'm so confused and I'm so lost, and maybe I'm just supposed to go sell acai bowls, and yet the Bible tells us that God is not the author of confusion.
Speaker 1:Why do you keep going back to the acai bowl Like can? You sell something better than an acai bowl.
Speaker 2:Acai bowls are actually not that good. Yeah, oh my gosh. Like can you sell something better than an acai bowl? Acai bowls are actually not that good. There's nothing better than an acai bowl. Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:That sounds so good right now Sushi, fish, tacos, barbecue.
Speaker 2:Remember that miso fat sushi, oh my gosh. Yes, oh my gosh, take me back, take me back.
Speaker 1:Burgers, like literally anything is better than an acai bowl, except for some vegan.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, so back to this topic. So what do we so when we get in these places?
Speaker 1:like, like. What do you do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and yeah.
Speaker 1:And how do you get peace? And I, it's so simple. It's so simple that you forget. And then you do it and you're like it's so simple that it's irritating Right.
Speaker 2:And it's so simple that when you have people, sometimes who even speak truth into you, you just want to punch them in the face and roll their eyes.
Speaker 1:It's more complicated than that.
Speaker 2:Because it's like you need to pray about it, you need to, you know, you need to talk to Jesus about it, you need to journal, you need to do all these things.
Speaker 1:It's like, no, this is way bigger than that this is way bigger or it's like well, I did, do that it's like did you really?
Speaker 1:that's what it was for me is like I have been praying about it and like even wanting clarity on certain things. And I'll be honest with you, I don't, I still don't have clarity like on certain things. And I'll be honest with you, I don't, I still don't have clarity like on certain things right now and it's like, but I am, I, I I got peace this week and I, and so for me, the whole praying thing it's like, yeah, I was praying about it, but they were kind of a little bit like check-in-the-box prayers. I really wasn't praying the way I should be praying, distracted by other things, like getting distracted with busyness, getting and getting distracted, uh, by media podcasts, uh, my phone, whatever. I was letting myself get distracted by things. And I'm just going to tell this and I know we have some other things we want to talk about but, like I'm doing this is not the point of this, but I'm doing a 75 hard right now and so part of that is the outdoor workout, and usually for my outdoor workout is I go for a walk. I should do like a two mile walk and nine 99.9% of the time I'm listening to a podcast while I'm walking, percent of the time I'm listening to a podcast while I'm walking and earlier this week I was walking and I was by myself, like nobody was around me at all.
Speaker 1:I'm listening to this podcast and it wasn't a bad podcast, it's a good podcast and uh, I just felt this prompting from the holy spirit, just saying, like dude, turn the podcast off and just spend this walk with me. And I'm like, nah, like you're crazy, like don't, that's, that's not real, like you just made that voice up in your head. And then it was like I walked a little bit longer, it was like two more minutes, and then it was like it hit me again. I was like, all right, all right, all right. So I turned the podcast off and I just I spent time with God, for so it was five minutes into 45 minute, like 40 minutes. I just spent time with God and it really helped me.
Speaker 2:Like and I've heard people talk about that and when you say it helped you. So did you like I was, had this big epiphany?
Speaker 1:No, I was just have like this big life change.
Speaker 2:No, that's. The thing is like I was had this big epiphany. No, I was just have like this big life change.
Speaker 1:No, that's the thing is like I was just I poured my, I had. It was like I just had a conversation with God. I just poured my heart out, my frustrations, my feelings, just all of it, good and bad. I just kind of laid it out there my frustrations, my non frustrations, my confessions of guilt, like all of it. I and bad. I just kind of laid it out there, my frustrations, my non-frustrations, my confessions of guilt, like all of it. I just laid it all out there and I didn't come away with an answer. Like it wasn't like. And I remember the one time I was thinking like I was like talking to God and I'm like it's not like you're going to part the clouds and just come down and show me. It's like, like, and then I'm like kind of thinking like that would be cool, but it didn't happen and I didn't get an answer.
Speaker 1:I don't have clarity, but I just I felt at peace and that was because I prayed like that's praying, having a conversation with God and I spent I don't even know the last time I spent 40 minutes praying to God honestly. But by doing that I got a peace and I just I did feel like I got reminded in in that of who I am, and it was. It was then that I was questioning like did you really call me to do this and did you call me to do that? And it was like well, he was like yeah, yes. And it was like well, he's like yeah, yes. And it was like reminded, like he's, he's come through before he'll come through again. I have you where you are ties in our scripture.
Speaker 2:Yes, for the month.
Speaker 1:In this world you'll have trouble, but take heart, I will overcome the world it's just that like little yeah, and and something in our sermon, and the sermon today too, that hit me is he was talking about how Jesus loves you and he was talking about peace, and peace that surpasses all understanding and I don't know why. And again, it was back to the simple things that we were talking about earlier. And he was talking about, like he said, jesus loves you was one of the points that he was making in this piece, and I think there's times where, like I for sure, and I think I even did it this week where I felt like unworthy or like I was doing something wrong, or or I had to earn Jesus' love. And he was just talking about how he loved you so much that he died on a cross for you, that he was beaten and had a crown of thorns put on his head, and I was just sitting there thinking, as a dad, how much do I love my kids and God loves me like that.
Speaker 1:And you said earlier that God is not a God of confusion, and it's like God doesn't want me to be confused, he doesn't want me to not have clarity, he just wants me to seek him and trust him and spend time with him. Don't you just want that from your kids. You just want them to spend time with you and not be distracted and but and it's through that that I don't. I don't. If I'm spending time with him, I don't need clarity on my terms and on my time. I can get it on his terms and his time.
Speaker 1:He's the father, he's the creator of the universe but can get it on his terms and his time. He's the father, he's the creator of the universe and he's created every single one of us, billions and billions of people. But he loves me the way that I love my kids, and it's like I want the best for my kids and I want them to have a good life, and he wants that for me too. So, even though I was in this terrible mood and feeling down and questioning my life, god doesn't want that for me. He loves me, and then just knowing that gives you peace. When you actually spend time with God and you realize how much he loves you, you get a peace from that. So I didn't get clarity right, which is what I was seeking from that. So I didn't get clarity right, which is what I was seeking, but in reality, I got intimacy with my father, who loves me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. I also do think sometimes, though, that's such a great reminder about God's love for us, because it is so easy in this world to just forget that and feel so unworthy. But I do think there are times that we yet still we know God's love for us. Yeah, our circumstances just feel so completely overwhelming or impossible to overcome, and it's like you have this I don't know.
Speaker 1:But again, it's kind of like being a father or a mother, right, it's like we don't make bad things happen to our kids and God doesn't make bad things happen to us but he can use them for his good. And like it's like if something bad happens, like we can like with our kids, like let's just think of it as a smaller thing, but like with our kids if they make a mistake on something, we can use that as a way as like a lesson or whatever, right and. But God is almighty, way more powerful than we could ever be, and he can use something terrible. And we've been through tragedy and we've seen different tragedies that God has still made good things happen out of those tragedies, good things that would have honestly never happened without some of those tragedies taking place. And we can never truly understand or comprehend. You know what, why you know those things happen. But it even says in the Bible like my ways are not your ways.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what would you say to the person out there who they're just going through it right now? So I know there's people out there and that's the hard thing is like. I personally know there's people out there who are going through things that are so much heavier and so much harder than us, and so often that perspective is all I need to snap me right back into reality. That like the enemy just in. It feels like a wet blanket over me, where that was, like this last week, where I knew the truth of God's love for me. I know that there are people who are going through so much harder than me, but yet still my circumstances were so overwhelming and like crushing to me that I just, you know it just feels like it's all too much and you then you start to question because you go down that spiral and I truly do believe that that is the enemy causing the confusion and so.
Speaker 2:But what would you say to the person out there who, like, even in this Christmas season you know, christmas is next week and we have complex um family dynamics to navigate and, just you know, hard behaviors with kids and changing in schedules and all of these different added stressors on top of everything we're all walking through anyway and it's just like sometimes it all just feels like too much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say okay.
Speaker 1:Like what are the practical have you ever felt like I would go back to back to this? Have you ever had something so hard that you just wanted you just needed to be with somebody? Like, like you didn't want to sit in it alone, that, like you, something was so hard, you just need to talk to somebody about it? That's what I felt when I did that with God is that, you know? So I may have had a really hard day and I just need to talk to you about it, or I need to talk to a friend about it, or I need to talk to my pastor about it, Whatever.
Speaker 1:Like you feel that thing, but it's like I felt like what God was trying to remind me of and teach me. He's like, hey, you want to go talk to your wife, that's good. You want to go talk to your friend, that's good. You want to go talk to your pastor, that's good. Than you did me.
Speaker 1:And even though I didn't get an answer, and even though just spending time with God doesn't make the thing go away, like, think about when you do spend time with one of your friends and you just kind of get things off of your chest, how much the peace that comes with that, and Satan doesn't want you to spend time with God. He wants you to spend time distracted. He wants you to instead veg out on Netflix or to get drunk, or to hey in Ohio you can do fricking, they said. In the summer day you can go get a dispensary and get gummies. Now it's like like God, like Satan wants you to run other things and not. And not to God. But I will say too and he did talk about it today is there is also community.
Speaker 2:But God does say come to me all you who are heavy burden and I will give you rest. Yeah, and so that's an invitation right there and a reminder right there. Like he wants us to come to him, he and he will give us the rest that we need if we do, but so often it's just such a struggle to even get ourselves to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and honestly, like for me, even like I do, I am way better about this than I ever was, and I know there's people even better than I am at this. But, like throughout my day, I will pray to God and I will say little quick prayers, little quick things, and that's how I was treating this funk. I was in Just a quick hey. God, I need your help. I just need your help right now. Whatever, god, give me clarity, god show me the way. What Like it was like it was that, but. And then I will run to somebody else and spend an hour talking to them about it, or run to somebody else and spend 20 minutes talking to them about it, and I didn't spend that amount of time with god yeah, it's just so hard because it's so cliche it really is and it sounds silly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, honestly, for me, when I hear it, and as a guy, sometimes I feel like I'm not doing that. Or you hear, I've heard people saying that man, I'll take a walk in the woods and I just pray to god and I'll open my Bible and I'm like nerd, you know, but like or lame or weak or whatever. But it's, that's not the case at all. Like I feel like a lot of times, as men, we carry such burdens and such weights and responsibility and sometimes we don't even want to talk to our wives about it and dump all of that on them because it's like we're supposed to shoulder it. You don't have to dump all of your stuff on somebody. You don't have to dump all of your stuff on your wife. Like you, there are times where you don't need to do that, you don't. You actually don't need to put that burden on them. Take, it.
Speaker 2:That's actually really good advice.
Speaker 1:Take it to God.
Speaker 2:Like sometimes.
Speaker 1:If you're having, if you're having a bad day, why would I dump my stuff on you? Right, right, and I can tell if you're in a?
Speaker 2:good spot or not Right? Why wouldn't I dump that on God and bring that to him, because he wants us to?
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, and then there's a peace that comes with that. That's one of the places of where that peace comes from and that's where you can have peace in the chaos. You can have peace in knowing that he loves you and who he is. You can have peace in knowing that who he made you to be, and when you're spending time with him and you're in tune with him and you have that relationship to let him truly guide you and direct you, then you're more confident in who you are and the decisions that you make, because they're in tune with where he wants you to be and there's a peace that comes with that.
Speaker 1:So that's why there can be peace in the midst of cloudiness, peace in the midst of grief, peace in the midst of trials and tribulations, and even asking God what are you trying to show me in this? Because sometimes he uses things, he uses trials, he uses things that you've gone through to sanctify you and teach you something. Like okay, god, why am I in this right now? Are you trying to teach me something? Are you trying to draw me to you? Like, what is it? You know?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what are we walking away with? This? Like what? I mean, I hear you and I believe it. And I feel it because, just like you said, you know we had this crazy week and then we go to church and that's the sermon. Oh, first of all, we should. You mentioned the sermon. Yeah, we'll link it in the show notes because, um, it's not our main pastor, yeah, but it's pastor alex pastor alex got to preach today and it was so good it was really good and it was one of those mornings where I'm sick.
Speaker 2:I have a cold. We slept in, we were late, I was like in my bed we had a late night with. We had family, family and babies and all the things and I like in my bed.
Speaker 1:I was like in my bed. We had a late night with. We had family, family and babies and all the things.
Speaker 2:And I like in my bed. I was like I'm just going to tell Corey I'm not going, I'll help him get the kids ready, like, and I'll send the kids off and I can have a quiet day at home.
Speaker 1:I didn't tell you this, but in my mind I was selfishly kind of thinking like, oh man, I hope she says that we just had a rough night and we're not going to go today.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I always want to, and I usually want to go.
Speaker 2:It's the temptation to stay home and I know people often say like well, don't give the devil that much credit. But it's like how can you not? That is the devil trying to keep us home.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Because that sermon breathes so much life into me and we relate. Encour. Sermon boards breathe so much life and we relate encouragement and we missed some of it, yeah, so anyway, he articulates what we're saying and so much more in the sermon, so we'll link it in the show notes.
Speaker 1:I did. I felt like I felt better with my time with with God. And then I I was tired and still I was kind of getting a little bit grumpy again this morning and I I came out of that just feeling.
Speaker 2:Me too, like my entire mood, perspective, everything. We had a great day at home and, honestly, we've been helping with high school ministry and I did not want to go today. I was like I don't want to do this anymore, I don't want to do this at all. And then, like Corey said you know, know, it's beth it's like a cold punch, like you never want to do it, you never, like you don't enjoy it, but like once you do it you're so glad you did and we got.
Speaker 1:It's not that you don't enjoy it, it's that you don't.
Speaker 1:You don't want I mean yeah, either there's lots of things like that yeah that you don't want to do pretty much everything that's good for you right, anything that's good, whether it's eating healthy, working out, spending time in the, in the word, praying to god, spending that amount of time with him. It's like I don't want to do this, I just want to listen to a podcast. Yeah, I don't want to go to church, I just want to sleep in so I asked you like okay, so how?
Speaker 2:what are we walking away with this? And one thing that you've said that I agree with and I struggle with too is, you're right, just sitting in silence. I don't know what it is for me, but I I don't enjoy doing that. I do enjoy doing it, but sometimes I have to force myself, like I'll have music on, I'll have podcasts on, and there's so much value in just sitting in silence.
Speaker 1:And the funny thing is is it's not like we're listening to like crime mystery podcasts or some sports podcasts Like you and I are generally listening to like business podcasts or health podcasts or something like that Something beneficial. But even like a good thing can be a distraction.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like in the scripture where it talks about like where God was. Who was that? Isaiah, elijah? Sorry, elijah, and God wasn't in the wind. He wasn't in the fire and he was in the still small whisper, he was in the quiet and so, yeah, I mean I know we've talked about all of this.
Speaker 1:I just want to hit on this too, because one of the other points that that Alex made was our was community. And there's even times there, like where we or it's like I just want to sit at home tonight and I don't, I don't want to be, I just want to be at my house, even though we may love your friends or your, your family or whatever, but and it is like the cold plunge again too, and then you do it and you're so glad you did, because when you're, when you have good community, they you pour into each other and you're doing light and it's just, it's it's life giving.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean, and so I guess those are the practicals. It's like the devil wants to fill your life with noise because he doesn't want to hear, want you to hear the voice of God, but we need to fight for quiet and time with God. The devil wants you to feel isolated and misunderstood and like nobody will ever get it and like I'm the only one in the world who's going through this.
Speaker 1:But God calls us to be in community with people, and so we have to fight for that and fight for that time and fight for those relationships, and sometimes we'll even feel like pushes, like frustrations or irritations in those relationships and fight for your identity Because, even though it's like we know God loves us, Sometimes you question you're like does he really love me? Does he really love me Because I did this, this and this this week, I did this today? It's like no, he loves you unconditionally. You need to remember who you are in him, who he created you to be, and that he loves you. If you're a parent, he loves you the way that you love your kid times a billion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I think that's it. I mean, it's so simple and some of it is so cliche, but it's so profound and it's so important because it's something. I think it's the simple things that we write off and that cause so much upheaval in our lives, and so, yeah, I hope that this is a good reminder to you guys. Especially this time of year, it just can often feel so heavy and chaotic and stressful, and this season it should be the opposite of that. We should just be celebrating the birth of Christ and meditating on all that God has done, and so I hope that this encourages you to just find time alone this week to surrender whatever it is that you're walking through.
Speaker 1:And it may be the, because this is like what are we a week away from, roughly from Christmas? It could be just the busyness and the scramble of the holidays of trying to please everybody. It could be just running around every available family get together because that's what you've always done and that's what you always did with as a kid. It could be every it could. If you go back to the Thanksgiving traditions episode, it could be just that you're forcing traditions on your family and it's stressing you out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's okay to say no yeah, and you and you don't, in a respectful and loving way, right, and you don't have to be a a hermit, right, right, but like and and you should spend time with, with, with family. But why are we celebrating Christmas? It was God. God came to this earth as a person to show us, to teach us for a period and then to die for our sins and rise again. That's what we're celebrating, and if you distract that with presence and to enforcing traditions and running your family ragged, it's like you know when you like. Have you ever heard people from Europe and those call they call vacation, holiday, I'm going on holiday. Like that's what holidays means.
Speaker 1:Holidays supposed to be a time of like, rest and and recuperation and celebration yeah and a lot of times I feel like in in america, we have turned our holiday not into into that at all, we've turned it into craziness and we actually get more exhausted. We would have been better off just spending the week at work. You know so, and I'm not saying like you know not to do things, but like understand the, the reason why, understand the, the benefit of it, and don't if it's not going to be good for your family unit. You know your wife or your husband and your kids, your immediate family there, then, like, maybe you need to say no to some things. So with that, next week will be Christmas Eve. We hope that you have a good time with your family, good time just celebrating the birth of Christ, and maybe I will be back to being a Grinch next week, who knows? But Merry Christmas everybody. We love you. Outro Music.