Worship leaders: the Christmas season is here! Before it’s too late, take a moment and plan on letting yourself actually enjoy the holiday.

For years I was stressed out all December. I usually would run around like a headless chicken all month — writing, arranging, rehearsing and performing, and would wake up from my coma sometime in mid January. I felt cheated. I never got to enjoy the holiday! In the past few years I’ve made some changes.

1. Make a fun Christmas appointment. Do at least one fun Christmasy thing. One year I went to the Biltmore house in Asheville, NC — America’s largest home: https://www.biltmore.com. Beautiful decorations and small musical ensembles filled the giant estate (the candlelight Christmas evenings are spectacular.)

2. Enjoy something you didn’t plan. If possible, try attending a service at another church (maybe a Saturday or Sunday night service when you’re off) – how wonderful to sit back and enjoy music that you don’t have to worry about!

3. If you have a Christmas program, plan it early in the month. At one church I had our special Christmas music the second Sunday of the month. All the musicians were still in town, everyone hadn’t reached the Christmas stress threshold yet, and we had fun! (And we had the rest of the month to enjoy the season.)

4. Take a moment, right now, and thank God for the miracle of His Son. Don’t get so busy that you forget what Christmas is all about!

>Bottom Line: Protect yourself from Christmas burnout.