Spirit, Soul, and Body: Your Survival Guide for the Holiday Season

Twenty guests in three weeks. Family sleeping on your couches. Kids giving up their rooms. Laundry piled so high you're stepping on clothes to get to the bathroom. Dishes stacked in the sink. People are eating whatever they can scrounge because you haven't grocery shopped in who knows how long. Everyone needs something from you at the same time. You're either going to freak out or you're not.

Eileen Noyes, host of The Unsidelined Life podcast and mother of eight, just lived through this exact scenario. Overlapping guests with barely a break between them. Family, friends, work connections, her husband's grown kids and grandkids, her son and his girlfriend visiting from college , a house full of teenagers for a Bible study in her living room... The kind of chaos that sounds beautiful in theory but feels overwhelming when you're living it.

She didn't handle it perfectly. She had moments of stress. Moments of irritability. Moments of crying. She stopped spending time with God because cleaning felt more urgent. She also learned what actually works to keep her from completely losing it when life gets crazy.

As we head into the final stretch of the holiday season, the tools she used will come in handy for you too!

Your Spirit: Start Where Everything Else Flows From  

Seek first the kingdom of God, and all things will be added. You know this but when 20 people are coming through your house, and everyone needs to be fed, beds need to be made, and laundry never stops, the first thing to go is your time with God. Eileen's morning routine usually works like magic. Wake up at 4 AM. Start coffee. Light a candle. Put on worship music. Tidy the kitchen while praying over her family. Use the time before anyone else wakes up to create an atmosphere with God's peace, glory, and presence in her home. That routine anchored her days for months. Then the enemy got smart. He used the very thing that was working for her and turned it into a distraction. The house was cleaner than usual, so tidying didn't take long. But instead of spending that extra time with God, she found other things to do. More cleaning. More organizing. More busyness. Before she knew it, she'd stopped praying as much. Stopped opening her Bible. She just did the candle, turned on the music and moved on. The stress showed up in her attitude. She could feel herself getting irritable. The peace was gone.  She realized she'd let the enemy distract her with good things instead of the best thing.

Be Intentional With Your Time  

You have to protect your time with God like you protect everything else that matters. The enemy will always try to distract you, discourage you, or deter you. He's strategic. He'll use busyness, good activities, even cleaning your house, to pull you away from what actually fills you. Decide right now: this time is protected. This space is protected. Nothing else happens here.

Position Yourself to Hear Him  

Atomic Habits teaches that certain places should be designated for certain activities. Your bed is for sleeping. Your office is for working. The same principle applies to hearing God. Eileen had a sitting area that was clean, quiet, peaceful, and neutral. No distractions. That was her place to spend time with the Lord. When her kids started sleeping there during the guest overflow, she lost that space.  She immediately felt the difference. You need a physical place with your journal, your Bible, and your prayer books. Not your phone where text notifications pop up and Instagram calls you away. Not the kitchen where you're multitasking. A designated space where you position yourself to hear what God wants to say. Protect that place. Protect that time. Turn off your phone. Close the apps. Open the physical Bible. Sit in the chair that's only for this purpose. Position yourself.

Be Honest With Him  

Sometimes you don't even know what to say. You're tired. You're overwhelmed. You're running on empty, and you just need a moment. Eileen told one of her coaching clients to take 15 minutes in the morning and just sit. Don't feel like you have to pray in a certain way or journal or read. Just sit and see what God wants you to do. Then she realized she needed to take her own advice. She stopped everything, went outside, sat down, and said, "God, I need you. I don't even know what to say. I don't even know what to do, but I need you. Help me right now. Help me to slow down." That's a great place to start. Be honest with God. Tell Him where you are. Sit at His feet. Let yourself just be.

Your Soul: Guard Your Mind, Will, and Emotions  

Your soul is your mind, your will, your emotions, and your relationships. When you're running a race and getting fatigued, this is where the breakdown shows up first. You get irritable. You snap at people. You handle things poorly. You know you're not yourself, but you can't seem to stop. Eileen had to catch herself multiple times. She was getting on her kids about things that didn't really matter. She knew it was a reflection of her, not them. She had to own it.

Be Humble and Apologetic  

She was telling her kids about spending time with God and seeking first His kingdom. Then she had to stop and say, "I'm guilty. I'm guilty because I have not been disciplined. I've been letting scrolling on Facebook be the thing I seek first." She caught herself standing in the kitchen, knowing she should go to the Word or go to prayer, but she didn't feel like it. She scrolled instead. Time waster. Not always bad, but when you don't lead yourself, you'll be led. She had to humble herself in front of her kids and apologize. "I'm sorry that I'm more irritable than normal. I screwed up. Just as I'm encouraging you to get it right, I have to get it right myself." Honesty. Transparency. Vulnerability. That teaches them more than perfection ever will.

Be Thankful  

There are so many things to complain about. Laundry piled up. Messes everywhere. People are up late. Kids in your room. Things left out. You could list a hundred problems right now, but there are also so many things to be thankful for. Eileen spent time with her best friend, who she only sees once a year. She met one of her husband's daughters who she'd barely known before. She watched her sons with their girlfriends. She saw college kids having Bible study in her living room in their pajamas at 9:30 PM. When you choose to look at what's good, you see God's redemption and restoration. You see healing coming to your family. You see relationships being rebuilt. You see the bigger picture. Being thankful allows you to see what the enemy wants to hide from you: God is working in the middle of the mess.

Be Gracious  

Be gracious with yourself. You haven't been able to grocery shop. Beds aren't made. Laundry is everywhere. You've been irritable. You haven't handled things the way you hoped. Be gracious. This is a season. It's temporary. You're doing the best you can. Give yourself grace. Be gracious with your family. Be gracious with the circumstances. Be flexible. When you extend grace, there are less freak-outs all around.

Your Body: Take Care of the Physical  

Your physical body carries all the stress your spirit and soul are experiencing. If you don't address the physical, everything else suffers.

Do What Relieves Your Stress  

For Eileen, it's taking a walk. That morning, after all the guests left and kids went to school, she finally had a breather. She went for a walk and almost cried. Not tears of sadness or anger. Tears of relief. She could finally just breathe. Just be still. You know what fills you. Go for a walk. Go for a drive with worship music. Get a massage. Get your nails done. Go to a movie by yourself. Take an exercise class. Get coffee and sit in a coffee shop alone. Find a way to release stress. Find a way to get refilled. Do what you need to do for yourself.

Take Advantage of Morning Hours  

You don't have to wake up two hours before everyone like Eileen does, but try waking up even 30 minutes earlier. That time before anyone calls for mom is precious beyond measure. Eileen had a couple late nights with friends and thought she'd sleep in. Those two hours she usually had to herself didn't happen. The difference was massive. So much didn't get done. The peace was gone. She could feel how valuable those morning hours were. Test it out. See what happens when you have time where no one needs you, no one is calling you, no one is asking for breakfast or help or attention. Time where you can sit and be at peace.

Be a Food Snob  

The holidays bring food everywhere. Desserts at every gathering. Treats in every meeting. Snacks left out constantly. Eileen decided years ago: if she's going to indulge, it better be worth it. Tiramisu? Yes. Dark chocolate? Absolutely. Grocery store chocolate that tastes chalky? Automatic no. Mediocre dessert that's just okay? Not worth the calories. Be a food snob. Decide what's actually worth it for you. Everything else becomes an easy no. You're not depriving yourself. You're saving space for what you actually love. She also credits Retra, a product she started taking over the summer for helping her lose the last 10 pounds she gained during menopause. It gave her energy without jitters, helped with bloating, stopped the afternoon naps, and kept her in maintenance mode even when food choices weren't perfect. Green tea, green coffee extract, moringa, turmeric. She takes it in the morning without having to schedule it around meals, and it's made a massive difference in feeling balanced.

You Have Options This Holiday Season  

The chaos isn't over. You still have gatherings, meals, guests, schedules, demands. Things will go wrong. You'll get tired. You'll feel stressed. However, you don't have to freak out. You have tools. Seek God first. Position yourself to hear Him. Be honest when you need Him. Be humble when you mess up. Choose thankfulness over complaint. Be gracious with yourself. Do what relieves your stress. Take advantage of morning hours. Be a food snob. You're heading into the final week of the year. You get to decide how you show up. Protected peace or reactive chaos. Intentional presence or distracted busyness. You have options. Use them.

The episode wraps the year with practical wisdom for entering 2026 without losing your mind in the process. Listen to this episode and finish the year without losing your mind on The Unsidelined Life podcast.

Listen to The Unsidelined Life Podcast: Website | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Follow Eileen Noyes: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Website | Books

Connect with Lady Bellator: Website | Instagram | Free Community | Email

RETRA: Website