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Reality Motherhood: Never fear, 'One Thousand Gift Receipts' is here!
By Leslie Wilson
Every year from mid-November through Jan 2, women -- and even a few men -- take on the pressure and stress of "the holidays." (On a side note, I've often wondered why three of the biggest celebrations of the year have to fall within a month and a half of each other . . . )
But think about it. We have all the work, parenting, errands, chores, and other responsibilities that we normally have, but then we pile on top of that dozens of other activities.
We prepare for and cook a giant Thanksgiving meal, in addition to cleaning the house and trying to find room in the fridge for leftover broccoli casserole.
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| Leslie Wilson |
Many of us travel -- to see relatives or go skiing or head south to warm up on Caribbean beaches.
We plan New Year's Eve (and Day) events, going through the whole shopping-cooking frenzy once more. Whether it's good stress or bad, the long lists and myriad activities can overwhelm us to the point of exhaustion -- at the minimum, overload.
Does just the thought of it strike fear into your heart and mind -- as you consider the hundreds of extra tasks you must perform, and perform well, before each of those important days? It doesn't have to be that way.
Since there's nothing we can do about these major holidays occurring within 40 days of each other, we might as well embrace the situation and learn effective ways to cope. Enter One Thousand Gift Receipts: A Holi-Devo.
Anne Mateer, Bethany House historical fiction author, and I have teamed up to write the one and only holiday devotional -- or holi-devo, as we like to call it.
The e-book, available for download (for Kindle and iPad) at Amazon, contains daily devotionals for a 47-day period ranging from the week before Thanksgiving through the day after New Year's. The devos match up to specific days, such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, etc.
In just five minutes a day, One Thousand Gift Receipts encourages women to take a step back and assess why they do what they do when it comes to holiday preparations and celebrations.
We do our best to combine practical helps with spiritual insights, reminding readers to slow down and actually enjoy the season. With topics ranging from frugality to overbooking, from coping with unpleasant family members to stress (or maybe those two are the same thing), we offer wisdom and insight to help you thrive -- instead of barely hanging on. This period of time can bring great joy and fun instead of wreaking havoc on our heads, hearts and homes.
Anne and I offer insight and encouragement to approach the season with an entirely new perspective -- one of hope, not hype, one of peace, not pressure, one of enjoyment, not edginess. Sound good to you? Then, please join us.
Author/Speaker Leslie Wilson just released a new e-book: One Thousand Gift Receipts: The Holi-Devo. Check it out on Amazon. She also blogs at www.lesliewilson.com. Follow her on Twitter @LesliePWilson or like her Facebook fan page: Leslie Wilson.
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