Today’s post comes courtesy of my wife, Gwen DeSelm. I found her thoughts on this unexpected soul care practice to be inspiring. I hope you will too. And be sure to leave us a comment. We’d love to hear from you.

– Dave DeSelm

In this season of prolonged stress brought on by the repercussions of a global pandemic, the need for good soul care is essential – especially for pastors and leaders. Without it, we may find ourselves headed toward burnout, depression, addiction, and/or damaged relationships.

Chances are, I’m not the first to say this to you. You’ve heard the call for healthy rhythms of rest and work before. Hopefully, you’ve been caring for your soul by tending to your relationship with God and engaging in the spiritual disciplines of Scripture, prayer, worship, listening, and solitude.

But I want to highlight a soul care practice we don’t often think of.

Celebration!

Now, you may be tempted to say, “There’s not much to celebrate these days! Church attendance is down. COVID death rates are up. Sports are called off. And the political wars are full-on.”

But I suggest that’s precisely why now is the time that we need to be intentional about celebrating.

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine.”

God designed our brains to run best on the fuel of joy. Recent advancements in brain science have proven that to be true! And the practice of celebration is a great joy producer.

God designed our brains to run best on the fuel of joy.

Maybe that’s why God dotted the calendar of His people with celebration. On a regular basis, He told the children of Israel to stop their work, to gather together, and celebrate. Celebrate God’s provision, His guidance, His forgiveness. Celebrate His deliverance, His protection, His miracles. These festivals were times of feasting and music and family and worship.

And one day, when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom, there will be a celebration unlike anything we have ever seen!

Isaiah 25:6 tells us, “The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine.”

Evidently, God loves a good party!

How to Celebrate

So, how should we celebrate? Great celebration often involves three things:

• Friends

One of the greatest benefits of celebration is that it’s best done with others. By celebrating together, not only do our own souls get refreshed, but we care for the souls of others as well.

I recently heard joy defined as “relational happiness.” So, an essential part of the “good medicine” of joy is spending time with people who are happy to be with you, those who know and love you, those who are life-giving to you. Time with them makes celebration easy.

• Feasting

Feasting was always an important part of the celebrations we read about in the Bible. Indeed, there’s just something about preparing and sharing a meal together with family and friends that produces joy. Conversations around the dinner table that invite, bless, lighten the spirit, and share burdens nourish the soul.

Some of my favorite memories of our years with our small group involve food. Steph’s pasta. Jeff’s Philly Cheesesteaks. Becky’s “tilt cake.” It wasn’t fancy, but those hours working side by side in the kitchen were part of our weekly celebration. Then gathered around the table, the laughter ringing in the air led to deep discussions, passionate prayers, and words of encouragement. It was life-giving.

• Fun

Too many of us live under the rule of the taskmaster of utility. We have to justify everything we do based on its usefulness.

But in the words of Mark Buchanan in his great book, The Rest of God, “Play is subversive.” It subverts “business as usual.” It subverts the “taskmaster-supervised, legalism-steeped activities” that fill our lives. “When we play,” Buchanan writes, “we nudge the border of forever.” The joy of play “rehearses heaven.”

“When we play, we nudge the border of forever.” Mark Buchanan

So, make the time for that hobby you’ve been putting off. Go on a bike ride with your kids. Get out the board games. Grab a couple of friends and hit the links. HAVE FUN and feel the joy return.

What to Celebrate

There are many great reasons to celebrate: birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc. But here are a couple of other things that are worth celebrating.

• Breakthroughs

Finally complete that project you’ve been working on? Celebrate! Has your team been pulling hard together to launch a big initiative? Celebrate! Are you finally seeing progress in an area you’ve been investing in? Celebrate!

Looking back on my decades in church ministry, I have to admit… we didn’t do that nearly enough. We were constantly looking into the future to what was coming next. But it’s good… and right… to stop and celebrate God’s blessing, the fruit that was borne, and the contribution and sacrifice of others.

It’s good… and right… to stop and celebrate God’s blessing, the fruit that was borne, and the contribution and sacrifice of others.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine threw a party to honor his wife who had returned to teaching school after many years away raising their children. That first year back in the classroom was HARD and costly, but she persevered. So, at the end of the year, he invited several of her friends and colleagues, prepared some of her favorite foods, and threw a surprise party to celebrate her faithfulness.

Another pastor friend of mine celebrated a year of fruitful ministry by taking his entire staff and their families to the circus.

For some leaders, like my husband, celebration doesn’t come naturally. So, when he was Senior Pastor, he found someone else on the church staff who WAS good at it and empowered them to raise the celebration level. “The Fun Committee” planned parties, organized group activities, and called us to push pause on the serious business of ministry and just play together.

How have you celebrated with your team? Share your ideas in the comment section below.

• People

Celebrating the people in your life is a two-way street of joy. Not only is it good for your own soul, but it also breathes life into them.

Celebrating the people in your life is a two-way street of joy.

For example, we had a community group (made up primarily of young families) that gathered together every Tuesday for dinner and discipleship. We began a tradition we called Birthday Blessings. To celebrate an individual’s birthday – adult or child – we invited folks to offer words of blessing, telling the birthday boy or girl what we appreciated about them, the qualities we admire, or the things we are praying for them.

Time and again during these celebrations, tears would flow. Many had never had anyone honor them like this. Parents were eager to have their children receive birthday blessings from the adults in this spiritual family, and the adults were moved by the blessings they received from the kids.

But often it was the giver of the blessing that received the blessing! Recalling memories of shared experiences with that person, putting words to the things we love and value in them, stirred up emotions of gratitude and joy that created a deeper sense of intimacy in our community.

A joyful heart really is good medicine. So, let the celebration begin! Your soul will thank you.

Gwen DeSelm is the Director of Operations for Dave DeSelm Ministries. She and Dave have been in ministry together for over 40 years and she spent 21 years on staff at Fellowship Missionary Church in Fort Wayne, IN.

Celebration: The Unexpected Soul Care Practice