Stress is everywhere. Even good things can cause stress! If we take a vacation, it causes stress. If we start a new job, find a new house or choose a new spouse, it still causes major stress.

And stress around the holidays is especially noticeable. In fact, on the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory, (where death of a spouse is the number one producer of stress), the “stress-o-meter” ranks “enjoying” the holidays right up there with a major change in sleeping or eating habits.

A recent survey (from the American Psychiatric Association) found that almost half of US adults “feel more anxious now than they did the previous year.”  In a different survey, the writer Jonathan Haidt has suggested that one third of our college kids are reporting feeling anxious at least half the time. Now, that is a lot of adrenaline coursing through our veins.

Especially around the holidays, we need to realize that we have all kinds of expectations pushing on us from every direction. Maybe we feel pressure from the childhood we had or maybe from the childhood we did not have.

So, we need to recognize that we have limits of time, financial resources and energy. We need to stop comparing our decorations, or the gifts we give our family and friends or the activities we get to enjoy with others…. because those comparisons cause stress.

Truthfully, we need to find some powerful ways to redirect our emotions. So, for this next week, may I suggest some ways to do so?

First, I would recommend that you WRITE. Write down your stressors. Write down the events, activities or situations that cause you great frustration and stress. Gather your spouse or family around you and discuss those items. Be honest. With their help, look for ways to avoid the pits falls of an overdone, over scheduled, over pressured holiday.

And secondly, I would urge you to sit down and IDENTIFY A PASSAGE or two of scripture that will help you find peace during a jumbled season. You might commit to memory Philippians 4:6-8 or maybe Psalm 23 or perhaps Psalm 121. They all address our frustrations, fears and anxieties.

Paul’s advice to the church at Philippi still applies to us today: “Be anxious for nothing, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths” (See Phil. 4:6).

Let’s not be anxious about our schedules, our activities, our gift giving, our meals or our finances. This holiday let’s make our homes a stress-free zone!