Counteracting Holiday Fatigue and Irritability

For many, the time of the year from Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's Eve is filled with overdoing it. We have parties to throw and go to. There are meals to plan, prepare, and clean up after. We have gifts to pick out, buy, wrap, and give. George Bailey feels a kindred spirit, what with his frustration at things not going perfectly, and feeling like he's to blame. Everyone would be better off if he had never been born, he muses to himself in 'It's a Wonderful Life.' But what is at the heart of this is a preoccupation where what we bring to the table is concerned. And yet Christmas isn't about that. Christmas is about what God already brought to the table. If we were able to execute perfectly and make everything alright, there would have been no need for the incarnation of Christ, since baby Jesus in a manger was the lead-up to the Savior going to the cross to atone for our sins. When it turns out we can't be perfect even for a relatively short season, there is great comfort and peace in remembering the good news that God knew that, and still knows it, and bids us trust in his provision of the righteousness of Jesus on our behalf.