FIRST IN LAST OUT
I LOVE JESUS BUT HATE CHRISTMAS | Todd Elliott
It ’ s the busy season . Can you feel it ? As leaders in the local church , the holiday time can be crazy . We are getting ready for the most attended services each year — services that have the largest reach for people who wouldn ’ t normally set foot in our doors . And these are the services that can suck the life out of us if we aren ’ t careful .
I often tell myself that I ’ m not alone . Everyone ’ s got a busy season . If you ’ re an accountant , the lead up to April 15th is your busy season . If you work in retail , Black Friday is your jam . If you like sitting in your La-Z-Boy watching basketball , March is madness for you . Having a busy season isn ’ t anyone ’ s special privilege ; we all get to figure out how to handle life during that time .
As a younger leader , I tended to let the busy season take over , with no real boundary-setting on my part . There were a ton of potential visitors to our church for the Christmas season and we couldn ’ t let them down . It was time to crank out the work and when it is done , recovery could begin .
It probably won ’ t surprise many of you to know that this genius plan didn ’ t work for very long .
I was a shell of a person on Christmas day and my family didn ’ t like me or the church very much . So how can we get to the end of this year with a different result ? Here are a few ideas :
CAST VISION FOR YOUR FAMILY You know this , but your involvement in the local church is a sacrifice , especially at this time of year . But you ’ re not the only one putting in the long hours , your family is as well . Your spouse has to pull it together for the kids while you ’ re trying to pull it together for your church .
There was a big moment in my life when my wife called me on the carpet for spending all kinds of energy to cast a vision for my team on the importance of these services , but I didn ’ t spend any time casting a vision to my family for what we were all about . Why was Dad gone so much ? What was the point ? What part do my wife and kids play in making that possible ?
My family needed to know they were participating in the ministry I was doing at church . It became less about me abandoning them , and more about how can we do this together ? What are we doing at home to make what ’ s going on at the church building actually happen ?
This idea of casting a vision to my family also led them to be more involved in what was happening at church , not just sending me off with a smile . Bringing Christmas cookies to some late-night rehearsals , showing up during
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