It’s almost Thanksgiving. Christmas is already showing up on the streets and in the stores. You’ve been here before. Choir rehearsals. Play practice. Band rehearsals. Gift shopping. Wrapping. Sermon prep. Decorating the sanctuary. Setting up the Christmas tree. These are just a few of the items on your “to-do” list.

But how do you prepare on the inside?

How can you be sure that this season you’ll be closer to Christ than you have ever been? How can you be sure that this season you’ll keep from going crazy and burning out?

Here are a few tips for your consideration:

Maintain the ONE-ON-ONE. Keep that quiet time you have with Christ. Perhaps it’s in your study early in the morning before anyone else has gotten up for the day. Or perhaps it’s during that 5-mile run in town. However you do it, maintain it. Don’t let the hectic nature of the holidays rob that away from you.

Maintain the TO DO List. It may not be easy for you to hear this if you’re not a list person. But it may be just the ticket for you. Keep all the tasks for the season in one place. It will keep you on top of things. Otherwise, you’re left to running in 15 different directions at once – and most likely at the last minute.

Maintain the THANKFUL List. Get a pad of yellow post-it notes. Grab a pen. Put them both beside your bed. First thing when you wake up, joy down 3 things/people for which you are thankful. Then pull that post-it note off the pad and stick it to the mirror in your bathroom when you get ready. At the end of the day, as you’re preparing for bed, review the list again. Say a prayer over it and toss it in the trash. Then repeat the same thing the next day.

Stay close to Christ. Stay on top of the tasks. Stay thankful. These are three things you can do starting today. Don’t let the holidays turn you into a statistic of burnout.