The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
The Day After the Big Day
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The day after Christmas is weird, isn't it? Yesterday it was totally different. The rooms were full, most probably big moments, non-stop energy. And today, it's a contrast. Leftover cookies, half-packed decorations, you still got gifts and wrapping paper all over the floor, most probably. And a body that feels like it just ran a marathon that it should train for. And if you're a church staff member listening on December 26th, the day after Christmas, I want you to know you're not broken, you're just coming down off something was really intense. Not only do you have all the family celebrations, but you also have hopefully the high of all of those Christmas or Christmas Eve services. And uh today just feels different. It mentioned it here before. We used to have, my wife has a saying, she used to love her Aunt Ellen and Uncle Norris. And whenever they come to visit, it was a great time. And then when they left, she always described it as just that Aunt Ellen and Uncle Norris have left the building feeling. It just feels like everything you look forward to is gone now. And now what do you have to look forward to? Let me tell you today actually matters more than you think. So stay with me. Here's something that we don't always talk about enough. Christmas isn't just spiritually meaningful, it's emotionally demanding, especially for those of you in the church and serving on our church staff. Weeks of planning, all those extra services. I think my church is literally, I think they did 39 or 40 Christmas services at all their campuses. Weeks of planning, heightened expectations, the quiet pressure to make Christmas feel meaningful for everybody else. So when it's all over, your body and your brain go, okay, now what? That crash you feel today, it's not ingratitude, it's not lack of calling, it's honestly physiology and leadership fatigue doing their thing. Name it, don't judge it. Name it, don't judge it. Okay. Here's how to interpret December 26th. And this is a big one. The day after Christmas is not the day to rethink your calling, okay? It's not the day to quit your job. It's not the day to rewrite your job description. It's not the day, like I said, to draft your resignation letter. It's not the day to decide whether your church is headed in the wrong direction. December 26th, today, if you're listening on December 26th, is emotionally loud, but it's strategically, it's incredibly unreliable. Because what you feel today is real, but it's not the verdict on your ministry. So give yourself at least a few quiet days, and the time between Christmas and New Year's is a great time to do this, to reflect and not draw any big conclusions. Use today as a reset, not a restart. You don't need a big vision retreat today. You don't need goals or resolutions. You just need a little bit of a reset. And here's a simple question that actually fits December 26th. What do I need to stop carrying into this next week in between Christmas and New Year's? Not forever. Just into this next week, this next season. Maybe it's all those unrealistic expectations that you put on yourself or those unspoken resentments that you have and are harboring. Maybe it's the pressure to be on all the time. Let today be the best way I can describe it is almost like a release valve, okay? Help today be a release valve, not a launch pad. The church year is a marathon, not a firework. Christmas feels like it's the finish line, but it's not, it's just another checkpoint. And faithfulness is rarely proven in the spotlight moments. It's often proven in the quieter days, like today, like December twenty sixth. And December twenty-sixth leadership looks like this. Choose rest over guilt and reflection over reaction. Choose perspective over pressure. Let the pressure go away for today and this week. That's not weakness. That's maturity. And it's a little bit of a reset. So if this episode resonated, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach out to me, podcast at chemistry staffing anytime. What's the hardest part about the day after Christmas, about December 26th, for you? I'd love to hear from you. Podcast at chemistry staffing.com. All right, we're here all of the rest of the time between now, every weekday, between now and New Year's, and then going right smack dab into January twenty twenty-six. We'll be here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Tell a friend about us. Maybe they need to hear this story today on December 26th. All right, Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. We'll talk soon right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.
