Savor the Feast: How to Work and Rest in the Holiday Season
The season of fabulous feasting—days filled with savory meals, second helpings, and leftovers—is upon us. But especially for women, a tension exists between the excitement and joy of being with loved ones and the work and preparation.
I vividly recall my grandma hard at work in her kitchen, making the most delicious holiday dishes. Years later, I can still taste the buttery perfection that was her wonderfully textured pound cake. I’m overwhelmed by what she accomplished now that I understand the massive amount of thoughtfulness, time, and energy she gave to each celebration.
As I reflect on sitting around her table, nostalgia greets me. Grandma set the table for us, laboring for what I now know was days so we could sit with her and enjoy what she lovingly provided. Grandpa never started a meal until she finally came through the swinging door from the kitchen to the dining room, ready to sit down and enjoy the meal herself.
That’s when the feast truly began, when Grandma was ready to savor the results of her labor.
Like any big family celebration with several generations gathered together, there was work and movement in the feast. Even as we ate, we retrieved forgotten silverware and passed second helpings. But there was also a great lesson to be learned about what it means to enjoy and rest, to prepare and then be still. To savor the feast.
I find great joy in the planning and the organizing, in the checklists and hard work of getting it all done. But there is this lingering temptation for each of us that the work and the movement has greater value than the rest and the tasting. Tasting life. To really stop and feel the joy and deep satisfaction of meeting work deadlines, finishing school projects, and stopping to talk with the neighbors. Tasting life is sharing the pain of the brokenness your sister feels, and really listening to the hurt of children and marriages and failed efforts. When we savor the joy and the pain together, we celebrate all things being made new and see God’s goodness at work among us.
It is all-too-easy to rush into the holiday season and miss the true feast if we value productivity over people, task completeness over genuine compassion, or work over rest. In this season of feasting, I’m learning anew that the enjoyment of the feast is as crucial as its preparation.
The feast truly begins when I sit and savor the results of my work. And yet the celebration is for everyone to enjoy the fruit of our labor—for the very provision of work and the ability to work heartily in many areas of our lives. Together we sit and savor the effort we put into raising our children, into building good marriages, into working hard at our jobs, and into loving people well.
My hope for this season is that I will sit and savor in equal measure to how I plan and prepare for all the festivities, meals, and activities. The challenge is to rest. To wake up early just to sit and to play another game, do another craft, leave the dishes and linger over dinner and listen. To truly savor the feast is to be still and enjoy, for “there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work” (Eccl. 3:22 NIV).
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Savor the feast.
With southern roots in both Texas and Tennessee, Abbie Gristy loves sharing life with family and friends and is happiest surrounded by her husband and three strong and sweet kids. Passionate about making the most of every moment, she’s an avid reader, adequate cook, wannabe runner who loves organizing and reorganizing.
Each time I bake one of Grandma’s pecan pies, these same memories flood by heart! sometimes with tears of joy mixed with sadness that she is now passed on and is sharing in the Great Feast with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But when I see this message in print, I realize that a HUGE part of her lives on , not only in my loving wife, but in my daughter, as well. Thank you for sharing, Abbie Mae!