Ladies welcome back to the third of our

four-part advent retreat series.

Prepare your heart for him hosted by the genius project.

My name is Karen Doyle, your host and founder of the genius project.

And it is my great joy and privilege to be able to do.

Facilitate this advent retreat series for you.

We know that advent is a season of preparation.

So as you're journeying closer and closer towards Christmas, realize that you are

already in the season of a new year, a new liturgical year in the church.

And quite often at the beginning of a new year, we look at resolutions.

All the things that we want to change or that we want to do differently next

year, we want to leave behind those things that weren't serving us well, or the

year that we had, that wasn't a winner.

And we want to go into a new year with a clean slate, so to speak.

We want to be refreshed and we want to begin a new in advent.

We wait, we prepare and we reflect on the ways in which the Lord is inviting.

Start a new for the ways in which he's wanting to refresh and restore us.

Ladies, I'd love to invite you to join us inside the Catholic women's

master class in the new year.

If you're wanting to begin 20, 22 on the front foot, if you're wanting to

be really intentional and go into next year, living a life of balance and

wholeness in Christ, then I'd love to extend an invitation to you to join.

Inside the Catholic women's masterclass.

Now these Catholic women's masterclass by the genius project is a four

month journey of transformation.

We walked through a number of rhythms of renewal that you can establish in

your life so that you can live a life of wholeness and balance in Christ.

And you can grow into the fullness of who he is.

Created you to be, we are beginning to new groups at the end of January.

So if you would like to be a part of this incredible community of Catholic women who

are journeying together, then I invite you to send me an email at Karen at genius.

Dot co ladies.

It is my great joy to welcome Mika.

Kozack.

Megan's going to share with you some very practical ways in which you can

prepare your heart for Christ this Christmas and how you can set some

boundaries and prepare space for Christ in your key relationships.

Enjoy, or Megan, thank you so much for joining us for this advent retreat.

Prepare our hearts for him.

It's so wonderful to have you.

Thank you for inviting me to be part of it.

I'm delighted.

Uh, well, we recently had you on the genius podcast and

you gave a fabulous episode, which actually was one of the hands down

favorites, looking at relationships, boundaries, how we can be good stewards

over our lives, because that is your background and your specialty is in

relationships, education, and counseling.

And so today, Good talk in our genius advent series.

We're going to be looking at, I guess, our boundaries as women and how we

can walk into Christmas, preparing our hearts for the Lord, but also doing

that and ministering to those walking with those that are in our sphere of

influence.

Exactly how exciting it's going

to be.

Good.

You always, everything that you say is gold.

So I'm going to throw right over to you and allow you to take the floor.

And then at the end, we'll come back and have a bit of a chat.

So thank you again.

Thank you.

Lovely.

Oh, it's just such a pleasure to get, to be here and to be working with you again,

Karen, and to be speaking to all of the women, who'll be listening and watching.

Christmas is just my favorite time of the year.

And it always has been, so the music, the food, the hallmark

movies, just every, every part of it.

And then the pinnacle is Christmas Eve mass.

For me, I just, it brings me such delight and I love the waiting season of advent.

I think I love that anticipation even more than the day itself.

There's something like that gives me goosebumps and joy

more than anything else.

I think during the whole year, it's just divine.

But I think also this preparations time, it can be a season of stress and of

worry for some people as well, because there some anxiety sometimes around

how to manage difficult relationships and obligatory social situations.

And unless we are intentional about how we spend our time, our energy,

even our money, it can be a season of exhaustion instead of a seasonal.

Now I was lucky enough to be a Rita on math at mass on Sunday.

And I read the second reading.

And so I read this little phrase out to the congregation from Philippians,

and I want to share it with you today because it just spoke to my heart.

I write out to them rejoice in the load all the way I say it again.

Rejoice have no anxiety at all, but in everything and make

your requests known to God.

Then the peace of God, that's a passes.

All understanding will guard your heart and mind in Jesus Christ.

And I just thought it was so beautiful.

It was like breathing fresh air, you know, it was just gorgeous.

Now, here is what St.

Paul's letter to the Philippians.

Doesn't say it does not say panic.

Spend more money than you can afford attend events out of obligation.

Make small talk with people who make you feel bad about yourself, survive the

season and a regroup in the new year.

No, it does not say that at all.

It says rejoice and feel the peace of God in this season.

And so that's really what we're here to talk about.

So, yes, it's about challenging relationships.

Yes.

It's about boundaries, but really it's about how to create an advent season

of joy and peace while negotiating all of the different logistical and

relationship aspects of preparing for.

How exciting.

So I want to show you an image.

Okay.

Now I'm going to share my screen where I'm going to try really hard

to and do it smoothly for those of you who are watching you ready.

So here we go.

This is a beautiful image and it is of a woman it's by a Canadian

artist and photographer called Noel.

Mirabella is not perfect for Christmas.

Now for those of you who are listening and not watching, I

want to describe it for you.

So there is a woman who is nailing down in a beautiful blue dress, and

she is holding a baby in her arms.

And her face is touching the face of this little boy.

Now on her back is this enormous hessian bag, about three times

bigger than she is really.

And in that bag, she is carrying.

Everything.

Everything you could imagine as a woman, she is carrying a mop.

She is carrying needle and thread.

She's carrying an overdue electricity bill, an artist she's carrying a laptop.

She's carrying an image of a woman with a tiny waist and bathroom scale.

She's carrying pots and pans and fabric and medication, and self-help books

jammed right in the middle where you think there'd be no more space and

then a hundred tiny, little other things that you can barely even see.

Now, the artist who created this strong every piece by hand from

the ceiling to make it look as though this woman is carrying it.

And it really does.

You can see the white of all of these, that this woman is carrying.

And for her, for the artist for Noelle, it was an image of motherhood.

And I just see it.

I see it so clearly, but I think for us now, it can be a beautiful

representation of advent for women.

Now, advent is a holy and sacred time, but for women, it is also

a time that can be exhausting.

So it is a time where we are the magic makers.

So whether we are mothers or whether we are in a relationship or whether

we are single women, we are still considered to be the ones who were.

Be the help in the kitchen, make sure the Shepherd's outfit is ready on the bed.

Make sure that we've got everything that we need, but there's a spare gift under

the tree, just in case that extra person shows up at your table on Christmas

day, all of the things that make this season magical come from somewhere.

And so often it's.

As women and not only do we do all of those quiet, silent things behind

the scenes, but we do it all trying to look beautiful while trying to

be a gracious host while trying to make it seem seamless and easy.

And that is a lot to carry.

Sorry, I can just, so I recommend looking at this beautiful artist, Noel Mirabella.

Isn't it gorgeous.

I just love it.

Okay.

So you might be this insanely busy person.

Okay.

Organizing everything, every single aspect of it.

And you might love that.

That might bring you absolute joy.

And if that's you more power to bright, brilliant, alternatively.

You might feel a little bit overwhelmed about how to fit everything in while

making everything magical while trying to deal with difficult relationships and

not knowing how or where to make changes.

So I want to take you through a process that I use with clients at the time,

especially in the lead up to Christmas.

Oh my goodness.

The number of conversations I've had that looked like these are extraordinary.

It has three steps.

So step one, I value.

Step two.

So I need, and step three, I will honor that by.

So I'm going to walk you through.

So step one is I value.

So I want you to stop and think if you're listening to the car or you're going for

a walk, or you're watching this, just take a minute and think, what do you love and

value most about the season of advent?

That thing that just makes your heart sing.

So, if you are filling a job full of rocks and every rock is a hope, a

dream, an activity, a person, an event that advent, these values of Yolanda.

These are the big rocks.

They are the ones that you put in first.

These are the ones that you identify your core intention for

the season, your mantra, your focus, whatever you want to call it for

me in this season, it is forward.

Peaceful hot, joyful memories.

That's it.

Then my big rocks.

Now they're in that order for a reason, because in order to be the

magic maker who brings joy to myself, my husband, my family, my friends,

I need to have a peaceful, hot Fest.

Otherwise I have nothing to give.

So step one.

What do you value?

What are your core values, your mantra for the beginning, then

write those down once you have them.

So I've got two peaceful hearts, joyful memories.

Once you have those values, each one of them, you break down and you

have a look okay with that value.

Well, what do I need if I was going to turn that value into some kind of

an action, not just some lofty idea or hope, what would, I mean, And this

is where it starts to get tricky.

So I want to have a peaceful heart and I want to create joyful memories for

myself and my husband and my children.

It can be really tricky to identify needs sometimes because

we confuse them with should.

And I do this all the time.

Oh my goodness.

I have grown up with the idea that I am a.

And I do all of the things that need to happen for all

of the people who need them.

If there is a shoe, it is in my basket and I am on my way.

And so when I'm looking at needs, yes, you too.

Karen should, should is you not?

Yeah.

So it's so hard.

We've actually got to put them down and identify then.

Okay.

We're not talking about shirts today.

We're talking about your values and then what you need.

So let me walk you through it.

If I fail you having a peaceful heart, I actually need.

Time alone to pray and to exercise.

And that means time away from my children.

I feel like there should be like a dunk dunk dunk music here, because

how selfish does that sound?

As soon as I even think it, the should is just, they flood into my mind.

And I think it's school holidays.

I'm only going to get 18 summers with my children.

It's Christmas time.

There are 17 million things I should be doing to be the good mother,

wife, daughter, friend, everything I should be doing right now.

How is it possible that I could tell myself it's okay to have time alone.

So insert whatever societal or family of origin expectation you have there.

Those ones that just mine, the thing he with we get to IME is we don't actually

have to solve the problem right now.

We just have to identify the needs.

So I valued a peaceful heart.

So I need time align.

We'll sort out how in a minute now the other one of my values

is making joyful memories.

If I want to do that.

I need to intentionally create environments that bring

joy to me and to my family.

Now this environment may or may not be with family and it may

or may not be participating in traditional events for this to happen.

I need to be really clear about my bad.

Around people around time, around events, around where I go, how much

money I spend and what I choose to do with my resources tricky.

So if I value a peaceful heart and joyful memory, I need quiet time and

clear boundaries around how to manage this season so that it is joyful.

And.

The third one is where the rubber hits the road, because so far

it's just a really nice idea.

Okay.

When you get to step three is where we go.

I will honor this by this is that you have to take a deep breath.

You have to summon up your courage.

You have to pray hard and discern well so that you can

intentionally manage this season.

And you have to recognize that it's going to disappoint.

And that's really hard, but it's so worth it.

I promise you, so stick with me for this last step.

Okay.

You need to act with love all the way through this.

I'm going to walk you through a couple of examples that link into my values

to make it a bit easier to understand.

So I value a peaceful heart.

Okay.

And I need quiet time.

We've got that far.

That makes sense.

How do I honor that now?

So I am an introvert.

I love my children.

I have two little daughters who are seven and nine and they are growing

faster than I could have imagined.

And I drink up my time with them, but I'm an introvert and they

are delightful, joyful noise makers and they are exhausting.

So I have to understand that even though there will be perceived.

And a bucket load of mommy guilt that comes with me.

When I say I need time away from my children in the lead up to Christmas.

That has to be okay because I'm not talking about taking

a two week solo vacation.

I'm talking about taking one hour a day to fill up my cup so that I

have something to pour into them.

That's how it works.

That's what I need.

And to be honest, it doesn't always.

I try every day, but there are days where it'll dispose apart where instead of my

husband or my family or someone helping me out, or even the joy of a Christmas

movie and me hiding in my room, journaling for an hour, it just falls to pieces and

we take a deep breath and we go that's okay because there's always tomorrow,

but at least I know that there is a tomorrow for this possibility coming.

It's not just an indefinite time.

And sometime in the future one day someday, maybe I'll get a chance to be.

It's no, no, every day there's something set aside.

There's enough in the tank that I can do as well.

And the cause of that, I am a happy woman.

I am a friendly, kind of more gracious human being.

And I'm a much better mom when I am honoring that value and that need

so as you look at your needs, as you look at your values, as you see

them and you go, I think that's what I need, but I'm pretty sure I'm not

allowed to do that at this season.

During advent Christmas with small children, whatever your reasoning

is, give yourself permission.

Give yourself permission to honor that need.

I want to then give you another example here.

And this is about making joyful memories and this is where the

relationships really come to the floor.

And I have no doubt that you're going to be hearing some of these and

thinking, oh my gosh, that's my life.

So just stay tuned with me.

Okay.

If I value making joyfulness.

I know, I need to create environments that bring joy and I have to

do that by setting boundaries.

Now, boundaries is a word that really divides people.

I have.

Some people love it.

They hear it.

And they're like, yes, give me more, tell me more about Brenna and Glen.

And it will have things that have to do with boundaries.

I mean, I'm for it.

Other people hate it, they hear the word word and they have an

almost visceral reaction to it.

And they say, don't say, don't say the B word to me again.

I'm done I'm out.

And we just all get along.

Now I want to explain it and unpack it for you a little bit.

So that we're all on the same page about what it is that I'm talking about.

It can seem funny to connect joy.

Because we see boundaries as a way to keep people out, but that's not really

what it is, are sort of two sides of the same coin to experience joy.

You have to create environments that foster joy.

And the way that we do that is by having clear boundaries.

So they're not sending ethical, magical thing.

They're simply what is okay.

And what isn't okay.

And that.

Depending on the season of life, depending on what you need, depending

on the seasons of life of the people who you interacting with, it's

like a Foundry on a piece of land.

So you think that the house that you're, that you live in your owning

or renting, whatever it is, it might have a fence around the piece of land.

And then it has an entryway.

It has a gate somewhere, and that's what lets things in and lets things.

Okay.

You choose what is inside your boundary.

You choose your values, your needs, your hopes, your desires, you choose

everyone and everything that comes into that space and everyone and everything

that you let out of that space.

Now, sometimes we don't know that someone has crossed a boundary

until we feel really uncovered.

Something's happened in my life.

Something's wrong with this conversation?

Well, this person, or the amount of time that I'm here, something will happen

and we'll just feel something to date.

It feels uncomfortable worrying, and that's a little cue for us to go, oh,

someone has entered my space without my permission or they're trembling

on my garden without my permission.

I didn't, I didn't say it was okay for that person to be here

for this long to make that.

To say that thing in front of my children to expect that thing from me,

whatever it is that could be kind of acute, that our boundaries have been

crossed or an idea that maybe there wasn't a boundary there to begin with.

So often if we come from a family of origin, which is quite inmate.

How boundaries are really blurry.

So it's kind of like having a whole lot of houses on the same street,

but no fences in between them.

Everybody can wander in and out of each other's yards and just assume

that that's okay with everybody else.

And so if you're there suddenly what we're even slowly trying to put up a little

boundary, it can make the other people on your street feel really uncomfortable

and be like, hang on a second.

What was wrong with the way that we had it?

So you can expect as he walked through this season of creating boundaries, but

they will be a little bit of discomfort.

And that's okay, because your space inside your boundary is sacred and it

is sacred for you and for your family.

You choose who comes in and who comes out.

And that's a real gift that only you can give now in the lead up to Christmas time.

Almost every conversation I have with clients is about family or

family and law, just at the moment, how to manage it, what to do, how

to have the difficult conversations.

And it can be beautiful to connect with family.

I love it.

It's wonderful, but it can also be hard, especially if there aren't

those clear boundaries sometimes with our family of origin.

And you might notice this yourself.

When we connect back with them, we revert back to our childhood.

Without even really thinking.

So if we were the peacekeeper growing up, or if we were the clown, if we were

the good girl growing up, we might just slip back into that family dynamic.

When we meet them again, for some people that's comfortable and

delightful and all they've known, and they're very happy to be there, but

other people they've worked really, really hard to step out of that role.

And so when they come back into that family of origin and they suddenly find

themselves in that position again, It can be really challenging to know what to

do, and it can make it difficult to enjoy one another's company as adults who have

grown and changed and have now got more to offer the world than what they see.

So how do you mean.

You have to set up a boundary ahead of time.

If you get to Christmas day and everybody assumes the same, thing's going to be

happening as it's always happened and you get there and you announced to

everybody, hi everyone, Merry Christmas.

I have some boundaries.

I'd like to just let you know about trust me now, if this is not going to go well.

Okay.

So you've got to set it up ahead of time.

You've got to give people a chance to, to breathe, to respond, to

understand, to make change, and to have a little bit of breathing as well.

If they need.

So give people time, give people a little bit of a heads up before this happening.

So this may be enough time for you to do this before this Christmas book might

be a chance for you to do a bit of a stock take is Christmas, and then get

ready to set up for next year's advent.

Now there are many different things that we set boundaries around

without family, with relationships, with all sorts of different things.

I want to unpack two for you that are really, really

common by now time and gifted.

And how to manage these two.

And I'm going to tell you a couple of stories, successes, and values.

So you can set a boundary around the amount of time that you

said that you spend with people you are allowed to do that.

Just because someone in your family tells you that Christmas lunch

goes all day does not mean that you are obligated to be there or.

If that brings you joy, if your whole family gets so much out of it, wonderful,

enjoy have the best day cut the Turkey, drink the champagne, have a great time.

If the idea of that means that your values, those things that are so called

those big rocks for you, that they get washed away, or they get pushed

out of the way or someone else's value and you need to stop and have a bit

of a thing go, okay, what do I value?

What do I need?

Okay, I'm going to honor that.

And I'm going to honor that by the amount of time.

I spend at different places.

So I'll give you an example.

My eldest daughter is nine now.

She's I can not believe it she's so old when she was festival, when

she's a November baby, her first Christmas, she was six weeks old.

Now she was the first grandchild.

She was the first niece.

She was in high demand.

We were like invited to every Christmas party on the Southern hemisphere.

We would just, he was cute city.

Right?

We loved it.

It was beautiful.

And all of that.

Almost all of them were colliding on Christmas day and we thought that's fine.

We can totally, totally make that happen.

So we did Christmas as the three of us at home.

Then we went to a brunch for my sister-in-law.

Then we went to lunch with my extended family, and then we went

to dinner with my family of origin.

We squeezed in everything.

And in between we were managing nappy changes in breastfeeding

and a six week old baby with lunatics by the end of the day.

She was cranky and exhausted and hot.

I was just a nervous wreck and nobody enjoyed it.

Nobody they could, they couldn't cuddle a happy baby cause she was

crying and she only wanted me.

I didn't want to be there.

I wanted to go home and be in bed and be recovering after birthing a child

six weeks ago, I Jonsi was too much.

It was too much, but we were doing it because we thought we.

We're doing it because everybody else had asked us to do this and this.

And so when it was on and so we said, okay, and we just kept saying

yes, instead of no, I'm sorry.

We can't this year.

And we think no is a bad word.

No, I was your friend.

No.

Is your gateway to boundaries sometimes.

And it's so important.

So we had to get to the end of that time and go, oh my

gosh, we can't do this again.

This can't be our life every day.

This is not fair to us, our kids or the people that we're trying to

spend time with, want to love on us.

And so we had to make some really big decisions.

So we had a really tough conversation with my sister-in-law and we said, we love you.

And we love spending time with you.

And we love that you want to have a connection with our daughters.

That's so important to us.

We just can't do it on Christmas.

We just can't make it happen.

I'm so sorry.

Is there another day that we could do this and have a brunch so that

we honor you and we honor us.

And she was really disappointed.

She was really disappointed.

And that was really hard because you want nothing more than to make the

people you love feel happy and joyful.

And so when you say no, there is grief there because there is a loss

of something there's a loss or.

Of an expectation or hope or tradition, something that was there

that someone somewhere had hoped for.

And the thing is there is a loss and a death either way.

So if we had said yes and continued to see her amongst everything else on Christmas

day, the loss would have been on that day.

We would not have been able to engage.

She would not have had the moment with our kids.

So we chose to say, okay, it is a loss.

It is a death by.

There's a rebirth.

Let's make a new tradition.

Let's make two days before Christmas, your day, we'll be there with you.

The focus is with you.

We will have a brunch that will last because he loved time.

We'll be there for four hours for brunch that could have been an all day situation.

We'll just, we'll keep on going.

It'll be delightful.

We will have joy together and say, that's what we're doing.

And it's beautiful, but it took a little bit of negotiation.

Now, my other example for you here is to do with.

I have a beautiful mum who is a gift giver.

If you could have a look at the love languages and see the gift

giving, if there was a scam.

Of gift giving.

She would like tip the scale.

She would be off the end.

She loves it, every part of it.

So she finds gifts throughout the year for our children and just scurries them away

and then brings them out on Christmas.

And when we had two, we've got two little daughters and when they were

quite little, they would have been maybe like two and four or three and five.

I remember going over to house.

And just feeling as though I had to Wade through the gifts to get to the

Christmas tree that was submerged to some way of beneath it was like the

star was pointing out on the top.

It was unbelievable.

And my dad would just shake his head and say, come on and

find a spot wherever you can.

And my mum would be glowing with joy.

She had just found 72 gifts for every person in there.

And it was just so tricky because it was all out of love.

It's all out of love.

I had.

To her and have a conversation with her.

And I did it in January because I knew she'd go to the sales.

So I went to her and I said, okay, um, I just love how much you love our daughters.

Thank you so much.

It is such a gift that they get to have you and dad.

I love the connection that they bring and I love how much

you love them through gifts.

That is that beautiful thing that you bring.

That's not my love language.

So I'm so glad that I get to have that from you.

Here's the thing, the number of gifts they're getting from Denny and calls.

Far outweigh the number of gifts they're getting from Santa Claus

and mommy and daddy and all of their other relatives combined.

This is a problem.

They're not able to enjoy them.

They're getting them all on one day.

And instead of unwrapping one and having a delightful, joyous, plenty

time with them, they're going great and checking in and grabbing the next one.

And so I was like that doesn't fit with my value around how I want to raise our kids

and how they really appreciate and have gratitude for these different parts of.

Would it be okay if we set a cap number of gifts that you

buy for our kid, that'd be okay.

And she was a little bit hurt because there was loss and change there.

It took her a day and a day later, she called me and she said, do

you know what I think I get it?

What if we have a cap plastic to five gifts per shot?

Now to be honest, sometimes that she's talked a little gifts

inside of books and cold at one.

So I don't know that it's going to title me in.

However, she even went further and said, what if we also do it on another day?

So it's not like they receive all of these gifts at once on Christmas.

We'll have a special nanny in puppy day and we'll give them this special gifts.

Then a couple of days later, we'll do Christmas.

And then that day can be all about you and St.

Nicholas or Santa Claus and whatever you want to do that would that be okay?

And I was flawed.

I never thought that that would be a possibility.

It was glorious and so generous of her.

And it means now we have this season, everybody gets to have their values

met, where everybody gets to have their needs met and where everybody's

boundaries are respected because of.

But it only happens because of some difficult conversations

that need to happen.

Now you'll conversations might not be about gifts.

You may not have a crazy gift giver in your family.

I don't know yours might be about timing.

You will not be about the kind of jokes that people make at Christmas.

You also might be about the amount of money that you spend on a secret Santa.

It might be about the number of places you travel in one day.

Here's my word for you.

Say no without guilt so that you can say yes without resentment.

I think Renee brown says beautifully.

She says clear is kind unclear is unkind.

You want to be kind to yourself and to be kind to your family.

You want to be kind to the people that you're connecting

with and you want to love them.

So when you set a boundary, you don't say everything you're doing is wrong.

And I hate you say thank you for all of the things that you're trying to do.

I see it.

And I accept all the love.

You might need to do it slightly differently in order for this to be

something that works for everybody.

So as you're going through your event, you'll get resentment.

Goodness.

That was afforded, but it wasn't as you're going through advent.

I want you to think of these three steps I value.

So I need, and I will honor that by

fairly beautiful.

Thank you, Megan.

I, um, I love how you've done those three steps.

I think they're actually really, really helpful because I think you

touched on something here and I think it's true for many women that

we become the perpetual givers.

And so we're giving dry.

Um, without replenishing our own well, our own soul.

And in the midst of the giving, we actually lose sight of what we value.

Like I've met many women who don't even know what their dreams are, what their

goals are, what they even enjoy to do, you know, Free time anymore because they're

constantly just giving, giving, giving.

And so it's about maintaining, coming back to this central place, but it's

also about encountering Christ within us.

Like that is the central place that we're going from.

And I think boundaries is a tricky subject because we have like, there's

the secular kind of notion of boundaries.

It's like, look after you, number one, happiness for

you, more empowerment to you.

We compare that with like, I guess a Catholic, a Christian approach to

boundaries boundaries is important in both fields, but when we're looking at

it from this point of view of our faith and through the lens of faith, what we're

saying is we're really valuing the image of God within us, the Christ within us.

And we're also valuing the image of God within another.

So it's not actually being selfish.

It is like identifying needs and values, but doing that

through the lens of our faith.

And so.

One thing I do want to pick up on is sometimes like I have encountered people.

Who are very who pride themselves on their boundaries, but those boundaries can

actually then be an excuse for selfishness and self-centeredness to flip the whole

thing on its head that can also happen.

And so I think as we're going to Christmas, this idea of boundaries is

very important because we lose our peace.

We lose a sense of Christ within us when we're trying to meet everybody's needs.

And I think.

Do this particularly, but then it's also sort of asking the Lord, I guess,

the areas where we need to put up those boundaries, where he wants us

to, I guess, reclaim some space with him to have healthier relationships.

And then also asking what can I reasonably do?

To others.

So what can I give to the sister-in-law or the mother or the

brother-in-law that's reasonable for me and my family during this time.

And how is that going to honor myself?

So I think what you've given us a really great and beautiful practical tools and

insights into how we approach Christmas and how we can prepare for crisis.

To come into us at Christmas through, I guess our actions

in our key relationships, it's really, really exciting.

Yes.

He's still ride.

Yes.

All of that is the image of God.

I think you've just nailed it.

There.

It's the image of God in me and the image of God in you and how we

honor them both at the same time.

Absolutely.

And I think, you know, every single person we encounter, is it a little glimpse

of Christ's coming to us in the world.

And so when we're looking at, and when we're encountering other people,

I think if we can do that from the position of, you know, approaching this.

From Christ within us Christ within them and how we can love them.

And this idea of love.

I think I just also want to pick up on, because you know, the secular

world, you know, I love is this feeling you feel, but we know that

as women of faith, like this idea of love is often a decision that we make

sometimes in spite of how we're feeling.

But like you said, it's to give our yes.

To give our know in a way that.

That image of Christ.

So beautiful.

Megan, thank you so much.

Ask you to say a prayer just over the women in this area and over their

relationships as they come into Christmas and in the journal for this week, there'll

be a few reflection points to ponder for women around their relationships and

how they can, I guess, put into practice the things that you've highlighted.

If I could ask you to just pray protection over the women, that would

be some lately.

I'd love to the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit.

Amen.

Come holy spirit.

Well, Jesus, we thank you so much for this state credit precious, joyful season of

advent, season of waiting and delight.

As we just look with anticipation in your arrival, we ask for

your blessing protection.

I got all of the women who are watching and listening to this today.

He asked me a blessing over their heart, over their families,

over their relationships, all of the pieces that they.

Paying off debt and taking care of as they prepare for Christmas.

Lord, we ask that you are just so present tangibly, sorry to them during the season.

And they arrive at your bed at Christmas, feeling refreshed, joyful,

and ready to welcome you to their life.

Well, ladies, I hope that that talk by Meagan has really invited you

into a space of reflection or reflection on what your values are, what your

needs are, and perhaps the steps that you're going to take to really honor.

The image of God within you and the image of God within those people around you.

This Christmas to go a little deeper with this content and to reflect on how you

can practically apply these in your life.

I invite you to download the beautiful PDF advent journal

that we have created for you.

Take this to prayer and really invite the Lord under the gaze of the holy

spirit to reveal the areas in your life where he is inviting you into a deeper

relationship with him and a deeper relationship of honoring yourself and

those that you do life with next week.

Ladies is our final week with sister Mary Rachel.

So until next week, ladies have a beautiful week and God bless you.