Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the house,
there were piles of everything everywhere,
and an exhausted woman on her couch.

If you’re anything like me, the temptation the day after Christmas is to restore life back to what it was before the Thanksgiving-Christmas marathon began. However, if we ask our bodies what they’d prefer, our bodies would scream one word: REST.

Did you know that after a runner completes a marathon, Runner’s World recommends one day of rest per mile run? Since a marathon is 26.2 miles, that equals 26 days of rest before runners resume their training routine. Even if a runner feels good enough to get back out there, restarting too soon can damage the body’s tendons and soft tissue, leading to injury.

For 30-ish days between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, many of our lives feel like a marathon. On Christmas night, we finally cross the holiday finish line and collapse on the couch. Yet, instead of resting the next day, we drag out of bed and stagger around our house collecting the holiday shrapnel of used wrapping paper, half-eaten plates of food, and dirty guest towels. The faulty promise we make to ourselves is that we’ll rest better once the mess disappears. In my Stronger Than Stress book, I explain it like this: “Humanity’s collective toxic trait is that belief that recovery after exhaustion is better than resting to prevent exhaustion.”

Who resonates with that?

This year, I pondered what Mary might have done the day after Jesus’ birth. The biblical text doesn’t tell how much time elapsed between Mary and Joseph’s arrival in Bethlehem and Jesus’ birth. All we know is that she gave birth while they were there. The next scriptural timestamp is on the eighth day after Jesus’ birth when He is presented in the temple.

What do you think Mary did for those eight days? Did she pull herself out of bed after little sleep with a newborn so that she could tidy up around the manger? Maybe Mary did a little sweeping because she felt lazy lying around. While this is all speculation, I invite you to get curious with me. While we aren’t privy to all the details of Mary’s days after Jesus’ birth, we are given a precious nugget into Mary’s emotional state:

“…but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.”
Luke 2:19 NLT

An essential aspect of our human experience is assigning meaning to the events that shape our lives. It’s here that I’ll vote that Mary did have some rest. Reflection is difficult, if not impossible, when we’re exhausted or living in survival mode. Yet, when we rest, we can savor precious moments and our brains can imprint long-term memories.

I want to think Mary let her body sink into a pallet of thick hay, covered with her traveling cloak, maybe Joseph’s, too. Since hospitality was a priority in their ancient culture, the nearby women might have supplied nourishing food and warm drinks to help Mary recover. At some point, Mary would have resumed her duties as a wife and mother, but I speculate that if Mary could reflect, it was because she took time to rest. 

Here’s my takeaway: We devoted so much time and effort into making this Christmas special, what if today was a rest day? Not only could we begin to recover our strength, but we can also remember what made this Christmas special.

Rest is a gift that you can give your body and your spirit. Rest doesn’t need to be earned, but you do need to permit yourself to take it without guilt.

Let’s begin with rest recovery for your body:

1. Check-in with your body: What’s sore, achy, or tense? 
2. What do you need to restart that you may have neglected during the holidays? (For example: more sleep, better diet, etc.)
3. If your muscles are tense, what was stressful or overwhelming for you? Quick regulation tip: Inhale/exhale slowly five times to begin pushing stress out of your body. Do this several times today.

Next, here are three “pondering” prompts to help you savor what was precious this Christmas season:

1. Who did you see this Christmas season that made you smile?
2. Was there a fun moment, a funny moment, or a time when you laughed until you cried? What happened and who was with you?
3.  If you could freeze one or two moments from this Christmas and keep them in your heart forever, what would those moments be?
4. Was there a part of the story of Jesus’ birth that resonated with you this year? Why?
5. Fill in the blank: When I look back on Christmas 2024, I want to remember _______________________________.

As a get-it-done woman, I’m committed to rest on this day after Christmas to remember all God has done this season. Who’s with me?

Barb’s new book and Bible study, Stronger Than Stress equips you to win the battle of stress and overwhelm with ten spiritual practices that teach you to live with less stress and more peace every day.

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