We want Thanksgiving to be full of fun and feasting and family, but often stress can get in the way.

We are the temple of the Lord, the meeting space between heaven and earth, and stress has no place with you today!

Restore the joy and peace of the Lord with you by moving the stress out, whether that is through a mental retreat or outdoor one.

The main point is to determine what is stressing you out and counteract it with some kind of physical movement:

If you need to slow down for a second, do the journaling and meditation.

If you’ve been pent up inside all day, pick an outdoor activity. Move until you feel free.

If you have been stressed about everything going perfectly, do something silly.

I have listed 10 ideas for you below to help you work out the stress and restore the joy.

1. Journal

“The Lord is near…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Phil 4:5b-6

Take a piece of paper or even just the notes app on your phone and write out everything you are worried about. As you do, pray, “I give this up to you, Lord!” and lift your arms up at the end of your list as a way of lifting up your cares to him.

2. Scripture Meditation

After you’ve let the fears out, you’ll have more room to receive. Like eating a feast on an empty stomach, these words will be sweet to your soul, reminding you that God is with you! Take a moment to meditate on these verses:

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” ‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:14-15, 17-18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Read it two times through, then say it out loud one time.

Which word or phrase jumps out to you?

Grab hold of it.

Close your eyes, inhale, and as you exhale, speak this word out loud as an act of creating it within yourself.

For example: When I read this through, “seek to do good to one another” stuck out, so I whispered it on the exhale three times. Intentional deep breathing invites the parasympathetic nervous system, our relaxation mode, to take over.

Through this exercise, I’m sensing the Lord wants me to stop focusing on myself and look for ways to serve others. Part of seeking to serve others is asking good questions!

One of my favorite resources is 501 Questions: A Travel Game. I have this book on the Kindle app on my phone, and can reference it before I get to the table to have some questions on hand. The author also has a great list of questions specifically for Thanksgiving!

3. Speed Clean

If cleaning dishes stresses you out, set a timer, give everyone a job, and see how much cleaning you can get done within a 10 minute timer. Give yourselves a reward if you beat the timer, like a 5 minute dance party!

4. Catch Falling Leaves

This one is super fun and easy if you have kids. See how many leaves you can catch, and whoever catches the most gets to be showered with leaf confetti!

5. go ON a Walk

The simplest thing to do and guaranteed way to suppress the worry center of your brain is go on a walk, outside if you can! You can do this practically no matter where you are. Grab a family member to go with you or sneak out of the house before anyone else wakes up.

6. Sign Up For A Race

There are lots of races around Thanksgiving time. Don’t put pressure on yourself to beat any certain time. Just go for the fun of it!

7. Do A Virtual 5K

If you can’t make it to a community race, sign up for a virtual 5K!

8. Grab Some Wheels

Grab a pair of wheels: bike, scooter, roller blades, or whatever is cool with the kids nowadays and make your own little neighborhood parade. Even better if the finish line is a playground!

9. Indoor Exercise

Do an exercise video, try this T-H-A-N-K-S! workout, compete in video game dancing, create your Black Friday list on a spin bike, do charades with everyone, etc.

10. Throw A Ball Outside

I always see people playing flag football on Thanksgiving in the movies, but when you have a family full of sisters, we don’t really think about playing football. Now that we have kids, everyone can throw, roll, or kick a ball around. Add some version of tag in, and you’ve got yourself a fun time.