{"id":104124,"date":"2020-12-07T14:29:46","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T21:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/?p=104124"},"modified":"2020-12-07T14:29:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T21:29:46","slug":"25-ways-for-leaders-to-decorate-inside-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/articles\/topics\/holidays\/featured-holidays\/christmas\/25-ways-for-leaders-to-decorate-inside-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Ways for Leaders To Decorate ‘Inside’ for the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

For leaders, the holidays potentially feel like \u201cmore bricks, less straw\u201d (see Exodus 5<\/a>). More people in need of care, more events\u2014and less energy with which to care for them.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let your holidays be only \u201cexternal\u201d this year or let Christmas pass your own soul by. Grab these ideas to cherish, from the inside out, the newborn King.<\/p>\n

25 ways to decorate ‘inside’<\/h2>\n

1.<\/strong> Use discernment to say \u201cno\u201d to\u2014or delegate\u2014at least one activity so you can worship more rested and wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Set aside a few days after the holiday for your own private time to rest and be with God.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Read Isaiah 9:6, 11:2. Ask yourself: How do I sense one of these identities of God right now\u2014and\/or my need for it?\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> Set lower expectations in other areas: Go for that movie night with the kids.<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> Schedule a laid-back date night for you and your spouse.<\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> Monitor your own stress levels. And ask for help!<\/p>\n

7.<\/strong> Emphasize a morning routine that helps you engage with God in ways you love.<\/p>\n

8.<\/strong> Creatively give gifts that respect your budget and minimize additional stress.<\/p>\n

9.<\/strong> Unsubscribe from five email lists.<\/p>\n

10.<\/strong> Have coffee with a friend who doesn\u2019t need anything from you.<\/p>\n

11.<\/strong> Prioritize sleep and Sabbaths.<\/p>\n

12.<\/strong> Read Luke 1:38. Ask yourself: What emotions do these words stir in me? What situation in my life does it bring to mind?<\/i><\/p>\n

Find holiday encouragement for you and your family in our Holiday Survival Guide.<\/em><\/i><\/span> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>\n

13.<\/strong> Go on a walk to look at the neighborhood Christmas lights\u2014or sit by your Christmas tree in the dark. Enjoy being with God and thinking on the miracle of Jesus.<\/p>\n

14.<\/strong> Nap.<\/p>\n

15.<\/strong> Create a running list of gifts from God to you and those you love this year\u2014ways He\u2019s reminded you you\u2019re written on His hands.<\/p>\n

16. <\/strong>Read a book you enjoy<\/i>.<\/p>\n

17.<\/strong> Nurture your marriage by gifting your spouse an early stocking stuffer and restating your appreciation for them.<\/p>\n

18.<\/strong> Meditate on one name of God from the Christmas story or prophecies.<\/p>\n

19.<\/strong> Allow someone to care for you.<\/p>\n

20.<\/strong> Read Acts 10:38. Ask yourself: What areas of my life hunger for God\u2019s goodness, healing, and freedom right now? Who do I know that needs these things this Christmas? <\/i>Spend time praying for yourself and for them.<\/p>\n

21.<\/strong> Maintain an exercise routine.<\/p>\n

22.<\/strong> Consider whether there\u2019s someone from whom you need to ask forgiveness\u2014or need to forgive.<\/p>\n

23.<\/strong> Ask yourself: What character do you identify most with from the Christmas story this year?<\/p>\n

24.<\/strong> Lean into the unique sensory cues that draw you closer to worship: lit candles, music, falling snow, a warm blanket, a Christmas treat, a particular scent, dinner with friends, reading a book with the kids. Let these pull you into thanks and worship.<\/p>\n

25.<\/strong> Read Isaiah 9:6 (again). Ask yourself: What do I long to entrust to God\u2019s government right now, leaving on His shoulders? What do I look forward to about His future government?<\/p>\n

\n

Copyright \u00a9 2020 Janel Breitenstein. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n

Janel Breitenstein is an author, freelance writer, speaker, and frequent contributor for FamilyLife, including Passport2Identity\u00ae, Art of Parenting\u00ae, and regular articles. After five and a half years in East Africa, her family of six has returned to Colorado, where they continue to work on behalf of the poor with Engineering Ministries International. Her book,\u00a0Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills for Work-in-Progress Families\u00a0<\/em>(Harvest House), releases October 2021. You can find her\u2014\u201cThe Awkward Mom\u201d\u2014having uncomfortable, important conversations at JanelBreitenstein.com, and on Instagram @janelbreit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do the holidays leave you feeling empty after ministering to everyone else? Here are 25 ways to bring rest and peace this Christmas season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":104158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Do the holidays leave you feeling empty after ministering to everyone else? Here are 25 ways to bring rest and peace this Christmas season.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2816],"tags":[],"equip-category":[],"cwp_profile":[2801],"class_list":["post-104124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","cwp_profile-janel-breitenstein"],"acf":[],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_edit_last":["90"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"show_recent_3_posts":["0"],"_show_recent_3_posts":["field_5e5fe8fd0a35f"],"show_recent_3_podcasts":["0"],"_show_recent_3_podcasts":["field_5e5fe84cb04cb"],"alt_author":["a:1:{i:0;s:5:\"14276\";}"],"_alt_author":["field_5ac3df572642e"],"override_header":["0"],"_override_header":["field_5d9f5b011a6e0"],"header_post_type":["elementor_library"],"_header_post_type":["field_5d9f5ba898919"],"tracking_scripts":[""],"_tracking_scripts":["field_5db1a558c0a94"],"make_background_white":["0"],"_make_background_white":["field_5db1f6f6896fd"],"disable_top_header":["0"],"_disable_top_header":["field_5db74a47df831"],"override_footer_widgets":["0"],"_override_footer_widgets":["field_5e134c9512191"],"footer_widgets_post_type":["elementor_library"],"_footer_widgets_post_type":["field_5e0ef0bb482f3"],"header_sticky_on_mobile":["0"],"_header_sticky_on_mobile":["field_5e18a11219bac"],"show_locations_button_in_header":["0"],"_show_locations_button_in_header":["field_5e1cb1cabaad1"],"hide_social_media_buttons":["0"],"_hide_social_media_buttons":["field_5e1e3036c5657"],"signup_redirect":[""],"_signup_redirect":["field_5e74d18689717"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["137"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Do the holidays leave you feeling empty after ministering to everyone else? Here are 25 ways to bring rest and peace this Christmas season."],"_oasis_task_priority":["3high"],"_oasis_is_in_workflow":["0"],"_thumbnail_id":["104158"],"selected_related_posts":["a:3:{i:0;s:4:\"9337\";i:1;s:5:\"93094\";i:2;s:5:\"93673\";}"],"_selected_related_posts":["field_5e5fe92b0a360"],"selected_related_podcast":["a:3:{i:0;s:5:\"93832\";i:1;s:5:\"92975\";i:2;s:6:\"103838\";}"],"_selected_related_podcast":["field_5e5fe887b04cc"],"_eael_post_view_count":["633"],"_eb_reusable_block_ids":["a:0:{}"],"_seopress_titles_desc":["Do the holidays leave you feeling empty after ministering to everyone else? Here are 25 ways to bring rest and peace this Christmas season."],"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":[""],"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":["none"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-104124.css"],"_uag_js_file_name":["uag-js-104124.js"]},"meta_box":{"_cloudsearch_visibility":"","profile_obj_manual_select":false,"profile_obj":false,"separator":false,"enable_link":false,"login_restricted":"","content_type":"","disclaimer_banner":"","currency":false,"pricing_subtext":false,"element_type":false,"date_field":false,"date_format":false,"theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":"","series":false,"ignore_sticky":false,"conditional_blocks_category":false,"cta_selection":false},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2020\/12\/25-Ways-for-Leaders-To-Decorate-Inside-for-the-Holidays_1040x326.jpg",1040,326,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Lisa Lakey","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/lisa-lakey-e86f778f\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Do the holidays leave you feeling empty after ministering to everyone else? Here are 25 ways to bring rest and peace this Christmas season.","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2020\/12\/25-Ways-for-Leaders-To-Decorate-Inside-for-the-Holidays_1040x326.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104124"},{"taxonomy":"equip-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/equip-category?post=104124"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=104124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}