Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are all rapidly approaching and, for most of us, that invokes mixed feelings. Buying and wrapping presents, preparing a turkey dinner, spending time with family and friends -- including a few we haven’t seen since last Christmas -- can be both rewarding and anxiety inducing. With so much to do it’s easy to let our normal spiritual practices slip, when what we need to do is increase our time with God. We at Think-Biblically have created a few ways you can prepare yourself for the season to come, both heart and soul.

During times of stress – even good stress over spending time with loved ones – takes its toll. It might seem reasonable to drop our normal quiet time or journaling in favor of having more time to prepare for holiday gatherings. This is missing the point. The best preparation, even better than making an amazing dinner or desert, is preparing oneself spiritually. One of the reason’s this time of year can be bleak for so many is that we run ourselves ragged and don’t replenish ourselves from the source of all power and truth. What is intended to be a time of light becomes a time of darkness instead. To keep this from happening to you, follow these simple tips below.

Increase your quiet time. I don’t mean to extend the time you normally spend with God, I mean add a second quiet time to your schedule. Charles Spurgeon had a great idea, begin and end every day with Jesus. It was such a good idea he wrote a devotional book called simply, Morning and Evening. The original work can be hard reading, Spurgeon lived and wrote in Old English. There are many updated versions, however, one’s that even include the Bible passages so you don’t waste time looking them up. Not that you must use his work, you can do your own. The important lesson here is that, at least over the next seven or eight weeks that you spend time with our Lord when rising for the day and just before going to bed.

Sporadically pray throughout the day. It’s a little something I call popcorn prayer. When a person enters your mind, especially if it’s not someone you think of often, stop where you are and say a quick prayer for them. This happens more frequently during the holidays, especially as we think about seeing people we maybe don’t like or have conflict with. Praying for those we don’t see eye-to-eye with will make your time with them easier.

These two disciplines will prepare you to represent God well through the stress of the holiday season, but there are a couple other suggestions I have for those of you who are over-achievers. The first of these is to sing. Not the usual Christmas fare, but the older Christmas hymns that are full of good theology. You can find the lyrics to these songs on the Internet, but try classics like “Angels from the Realm of Glory” and “For Unto Us a Child is Born”. Such songs help you stay focused of God. The other suggestion is to make a journal entry each day – just a sentence or two – of the things you are thankful to God for that day. Recognizing the little blessings God sends our way each day will fuel your soul for those holiday get-togethers.

Make this the best time of the year for you and your family, including your spiritual family, by keeping God at the center of it all.