S E50: Episode 50 | ADHD-Friendly Advent Day 27

It is day 27 of our ADHD Friendly Advent Study.

It is the very last day of this study and I am really happy that you're here.

So if you are seeing my face for the first time, my name is Rachel.

I'm an ADHD and a Jesus lover and I help women with chaotic brains seek, find and live the abundant life that Jesus offers.

Christmas was yesterday and today is just kind of a day to debrief.

There are three journaling prompts.

You can find them.

I'll read them to you here, but they are also in the free workbook that you can download at the link in my bio.

So definitely go check that out.

But if you're more of an auditory learner or you just don't really need to have them in front of you, you can just watch the video, that's totally fine.

Real quick, all of these videos are uploaded as podcast episodes over on the link in my profile.

My podcast is the True Grit podcast with Rachel Grit.

It's me.

I'm Grit.

So if you would like to get caught up on all of the videos for Advent, you can do that very quickly.

There's like an official playlist over there or you can watch them here, whatever you would prefer.

But let's go ahead and get in to the bonus journaling process prompts.

So today's journaling prompt number one is look back on this Christmas season.

What words would you use to describe it?

Check out extra resource number five for a list of words.

Sometimes it can be difficult to find the exact words you want and so it's helpful for me to have kind of like a list of words available or a thesaurus or something.

So I included a link to there's like a list of 110 words that you can use to describe your life.

So I would encourage you pause here and go read through the list of words that is linked in the workbook.

Or you can just Google like words to describe life and kind of think through this past Christmas season and what words would you use to describe it.

So whether you are writing that out, that is what I would recommend.

I always recommend journaling by hand, but if that doesn't feel accessible today, other options are typing it on a computer, typing it in a.

Hold on.

You can type it on your phone, in your notes, app, voice memo, or even just sitting and thinking through is still going to have benefits.

So we're not going for perfection.

We are going for progress, for benefit.

We're working with the brain God gave us, not against it.

So pause here.

Go do journaling, whatever that looked like for you, whatever that's going to look like for you today, and then come back here and we'll do the next one.

Okay, moving right along to journaling prompt number two.

We're on bonus journaling prompt number two for today.

What did you need the most going into this Christmas season?

Did you get it?

Why or why not?

And this one, whatever.

Whatever the answer that comes up for you, I just want you to kind of journal your feelings on it.

Whatever thoughts come up, really, just.

Just kind of examine how you're feeling about it.

Go do that and then come back and we'll talk through the third one.

Okay.

And finally, bonus journaling prompt number three.

Looking ahead to 20, 26.

What shifts can you make so life doesn't return to its frenzied but empty pace?

What can you carry with you from this Advent time?

All right, go journal and then come back.

So the idea here is kind of to look back on this Christmas season and appreciate what we can while also looking ahead to, okay, maybe next year.

We're.

What could be done differently to make it kind of improve upon the experience, make it more sacred, make it more focused, just make it more meaningful.

There's definitely some things that I want to do differently, so I'm gonna share my prompts.

Um, I like being vulnerable here.

I like making it clear that, you know, social media is fake, but it doesn't have to be.

And there are plenty of people, like, plenty of content creators out there who are very raw and real on their platforms.

And that's definitely the standard that I like to have as well.

And so I'll be super honest with you.

For me, this Christmas season started out really strong.

And it.

The words that I used here was, it kind of felt like a deflating balloon.

As time went on for me, I think I needed to plan more to make sure that the season could be as slow and intentional as possible while really amping up that cozy factor.

That one's more for comfort and personal enjoyment than anything.

But I also think that our enjoyment of the season is important.

I mean, God created feasts and holidays and all of these things, and they serve a purpose.

So I think Going for something that we enjoy during the Christmas season is.

That is okay.

That is encouraged.

And so something that I want to do next year is focus a lot more on preparing meals ahead of time, planning activities and games and things that will connect us and bring us together ahead of time.

There are a lot of things that I want to do differently next year.

I'll just.

I'll actually just read you my response here.

This Christmas season felt like it went downhill the closer Christmas got.

I went into the season hopeful, excited, without at least what felt like too high of expectations.

It kind of felt like a balloon slowly deflating.

I wish I had prepared for a much slower, cozier, more intentional environment.

String lights, prepped meals, rhythms like cocoa, game nights, a Christmas gathering, gifts and cookies for the neighbors.

More connection, rhythm, and coziness.

Oh, my gosh.

I just saw my husband walk outside to get the chickens food, but I didn't realize it was him because he came from a different way than he normally does.

And I just had, like, a mini heart attack, like, oh, there's a man in black in my backyard.

Oh, I'm married to him.

It's fine.

It's fine.

So more connection, rhythm, and coziness, all while being more wholeheartedly and holistically focused on Jesus.

And I think I'll make a separate video talking about what I want to do differently, how I want to prepare for the Advent season next year.

And maybe I'll even do a Bible study on preparing for Advent, preparing for the Christmas season.

Because there is, you know, I'm.

I'm happy with how this season went.

And it is a unique situation that I'm in because I only have my kids on Christmas every other year.

So, like, last year, I woke up and there were no children in my home, which was difficult.

And this year, it was so wonderful to have the kids on Christmas.

But then, of course, that poses other logistical challenges and preparation challenges and things like that.

So I think I want to focus on preparing more solidly next year.

I loved having the structure and just the rhythm of this Advent study through throughout Advent and how it helped me focus on Jesus.

But I also do want to just be more prepared next year, as I have kind of worked with the brain that I have and learned more about myself and how I work and how my brain works.

Preparation is so important for me, and I'm slowly kind of building what that looks like in all of the different areas of my life.

So, for example, I have this little printable that I created for meal planning and just if you have never had to worry about having a blended family and the logistics that comes with that, this is what our Christmas looked like.

The blue color is when just my step kiddos are here.

My little bonus kiddos whom I adore.

The gold is when all the kiddos are together because obviously that is golden.

And I pick my colors very intentionally.

So Periwinkle is my favorite color and I just, I adore my step kiddos.

And so the time that I have my stu kiddos I just, I love.

And so that's periwinkle.

Gold is like we're all together.

Yay, hooray.

And then green.

Green because.

Because my little Dino boy is what I call my son, my 4 year old who's my bio kiddo.

And so green just always reminds me of him.

And green is the color that I decorated his nursery in.

And so it's all color coded.

But yeah, this is our week as a blended family.

But I've been working on tools like this where I have a space each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

There's a place where I can just have the meals listed out in case that's easier for me to like not have to plan out each day and just have a list of the things I can do.

I've got proteins, snacks, and then plenty of space to write.

And so tools like this, I often find that I create them myself because I can't find something that works exactly how I want it to.

And so I have just come to realize and I've.

I've been building on this idea of creating rhythms in my life and preparing and doing the legwork ahead of time so that things can go smoothly during the actual time.

And so I want to build on that for this coming Christmas.

That that's, you know, the purpose, the purpose of me sharing that as for prompt two, I went into this Christmas season just really needing hope.

I've been very open about the fact that this has been a really difficult period for multiple reasons.

And my husband and I are just, we have so much to be grateful for.

And there's so much joy, like getting to have all three of our kiddos in the same house.

Waking up together on Christmas morning is just absolutely incredible.

But there's also been a lot of challenge.

We both got coveted for Christmas, so we weren't able to go to our Christmas Eve service.

We had to stay home from family celebrations.

And so.

And that was, that was a big challenge.

So I went into this Christmas season really needing hope.

And did I get it?

I Feel like yes and no.

So Advent and the study specifically helped me to focus more on Christ in anticipation.

But I'm still wrestling with keeping an eternal mindset at all times.

We've talked quite a bit about an eternal mindset and why it's so important.

And I. I don't know.

I am someone who's very affected by the weather.

I'm in Michigan, and we had this beautiful, wintry weather for about six weeks.

And then a couple days before Christmas, it all went away.

Like, this is my backyard right now.

It is dreary, it is gray, it is raining.

And I'm thinking that the weather played a big part in that.

And between that and getting sick, which meant I wasn't taking my supplements as regularly as I needed to.

There are two supplements that I take that make just the hugest difference in how I feel physically and mentally.

I take everyday dose, which is mushroom coffee.

It is fantastic.

And, like, my husband can tell when I haven't had it.

He'll be like, have you had your dose?

Because it just.

It makes a huge difference.

And then I recently transitioned off of.

I was on Zoloft and Wellbutrin, and I transitioned off of that and onto just saffron.

I'm taking like a saffron turmeric blend with something else.

My doctor is aware this is not in any way, shape or form advising you to go off your medications, like, talk to your doctor.

That's just something that's worked for me.

And so making sure that I'm in that rhythm was a little bit more difficult when I was sick.

And so that is kind of the theme that I keep coming back to.

When I look back on this year, this Advent season, this Christmas, all of that is leaning into my rhythms.

So for bonus prompt three, I have leaning into my rhythms and keeping.

And keep building, keep memorizing scripture, even two times a day.

There has been, I think we kind of have this idea in society that when you start a new habit, it's just gonna go from here.

It's gonna move in a linear fashion, right?

And that is simply not the case.

And relieving myself of that expectation has been so helpful.

So I have found that things work best for me when I just build on them in small increments.

And so when I hit a roadblock, like, you know, not taking one of my supplements for a coup days and realizing I feel just terrible as a result, or skipping my skincare routine that I have been building for a while, realizing that that's okay, and leaning back into the rhythm instead of focusing on the departure from the rhythm.

That is incredibly helpful.

I also have been working on memorizing more scripture.

I tried pretty much every scripture memorization app under the sun.

I can do a video on the different ones that I tried and which one I ended up settling on.

I think the one that I settled on is called Bible Memory.

That has been invaluable as well.

Very much not in a like, all right, New Year, new me.

I remember as a kid making just like pages of lists of my New Year's resolutions.

I'm going to do this.

I'm going to learn this.

I'm going to start doing this.

I'm going to do all of these things.

And I would have like four or five pages stapled together of just like New Year's resolutions that I had made, sometimes front and back.

And that is, I feel like the mindset that we kind of have as society of like, here's all the ways I am going to improve.

And that is just not realistic.

And especially for neurodivergent brain brains, that is not going to be something that's going to, one, work well with how our brain works, or two, be sustainable.

And so I am working on a workshop where we will be.

And this is not me coming from a place of teaching.

This is me coming from a place of here is a process I'm putting together because I know how my brain, how my brain works best, and I want to welcome other people into that.

So I am putting together a workshop.

There will be a replay and I very much want it to be accessible to everyone.

So it is a choose your own price kind of a deal.

Even if you are only able to spend $1, I want you to put your dollar in there and join us.

Carrying with us what's going to serve us and what's going to point us to Christ and what's going to further the kingdom and working on leaving behind some the things that aren't.

It's not a transformation, it truly is just a game plan for the New year.

Something that is focused on being approachable, something that is focused on being accessible, and something that is by an ADHD brain for other ADHD brains.

The link to that is over in my bio.

I would absolutely love to have you join us share this with a friend.

I would love to see you.

I would love to see anyone that you would like to bring with you.

Drop any comments below with any questions or anything.

And I am so incredibly glad that you chose to spend this advent with me and I will see you in the next one.

Bye.