{"id":1182,"date":"2009-12-23T03:07:49","date_gmt":"2009-12-23T09:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.185.166.32\/~davidfoster\/?p=1182"},"modified":"2009-12-22T19:18:21","modified_gmt":"2009-12-23T01:18:21","slug":"don%e2%80%99t-waste-another-christmas-nursing-your-anger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/don%e2%80%99t-waste-another-christmas-nursing-your-anger\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Waste Another Christmas Nursing Your Anger"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"As the countdown shortens to Christmas Day and we all get nearer to gathering with our families, I have one request, I beg of you.\u00a0 Don\u2019t waste this Christmas and your family get-together nursing an old slight, anger, or indiscretion.<\/p>\n

Millions of Americans will gather in the same house, in the art of being alone, nursing whatever wounds happened years ago.\u00a0 This is an absolute waste.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m begging you.\u00a0 Extend a hand of grace and mercy<\/strong>.\u00a0 Or at least call a truce during these two, three, four, or five days that you\u2019ve spent so much time and money to go and be with your family.\u00a0 Yes, they\u2019ve hurt you.\u00a0 Yes, you may have a legitimate beef.\u00a0 But they\u2019re your family, and you need them as much as they need you.<\/strong> To waste this time being angry, mad, pouting, sitting in a chair looking like you\u2019d rather be any other place in the world says only one thing about you: \u201cI\u2019m immature, childish, and I know nothing of the grace of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are a Christian, you have a certain set of beliefs that require a certain set of behaviors.<\/strong> Those beliefs and behaviors have given you all sorts of contingencies.\u00a0 What do I mean?\u00a0 Well, when your mother, father, siblings, wife, husband, children, grandparents, aunts, and uncles \u2013 you fill in the blanks \u2013 believe like you do, but don\u2019t behave like they should, you have a contingency.\u00a0 It\u2019s called grace and forgiveness.\u00a0 It\u2019s called mercy.\u00a0 It\u2019s called forbearance, being willing to bear the burden.\u00a0 And that simply means you\u2019re the most mature person in the room.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Take it from a guy who\u2019s violated his own advice way too many times.\u00a0 Be with your family.\u00a0 Smile.\u00a0 Embrace them.\u00a0 Laugh.\u00a0 Tell little stories.\u00a0 When something is said that hurts you, or hits you in a tender spot, pause.\u00a0 Be silent.\u00a0 Think.\u00a0 Does that really need a crass response?\u00a0 Or am I a bigger, better person?\u00a0 I bear the pain.\u00a0 I can bear the indiscretions, intended or otherwise.<\/p>\n

This may be your last Christmas.\u00a0 It may be the last Christmas for your family.\u00a0 It may be your last Christmas with someone in your family.\u00a0 Make the most of it.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be glad you did, and your efforts will pay dividends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the countdown shortens to Christmas Day and we all get nearer to gathering with our families, I have one request, I beg of you.\u00a0 Don\u2019t waste this Christmas and your family get-together nursing an old slight, anger, or indiscretion. Millions of Americans will gather in the same house, in the art of being alone, … Continue reading “Don\u2019t Waste Another Christmas Nursing Your Anger”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1182"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=1182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}