The Perfect Christmas Season..... or Not

I LOOOVE Christmas. I love the traditions, the smells, picking out the perfect gift, decorating, Christmas carols and everything else that goes along with it.

Usually for Christmas I am very organized. I have a holiday jourmal where I keep my menus, (they are usually the same from year to year) keep a list of everyones gifts- so I don't forget where hid it and who it's for, and our lists of daily things to do for the holiday. Yes, everyday we do something Christmasy. I have a list of things to do on each day of December- make first snow cocoa, read different Christmas stories, decorate ?, bake, go on Holy Walk, see Madrigale singers- you get the picture. This year I have done none of that. NONE! We do have a tree up with some decorations but that is about it in the decorating department. I am not sopossed to add things that can collect dust. I have barely sewn because I can't find the pedal to my sewing machine. I have lost my gift list twice now. But mostly because people have been sick. And it hasn't even been me for a change. We have had colds, broncitis, 3 children with pnemonia and now the stomach flu.

So instead of baked goods it's been tea, 7-up and chicken soup. A lot of movies in bed, some of them Christmas instead of going away. And snuggling instead of activities. I do wish the children hadn't been and still aren't ill but it's okay to let go of expectations and let real life come in. I miss some of the extras but I find out a lot of the things I have thought I was doing for the children make me happier than them. And they really want to use paper plates instead of china.

Christmas tour

Here are some of my favorite things to decorate.

My china cabinet with all the nativity scenes. Sometimes we space them through the house sometimes have them all together. This year my children gave me a huge blessing, they decorated the house for me. My mother-in-law fell and broke her hip and while my husband and I were at the hospital they cleaned, decorated and put up the tree. It was wonderful to come back from a very long day to come into a clean, decorated house.

My piano looks so festive with Mr. Snowman waiting to sing.

The top of my Hoosier Cabinet has had plenty of use this season with all the flour we have gone through. And don't you think a scale with balls is better than us using the scales?

Even the bathroom gets a little decoration, although you can only see the top of the white poinsettia. I love the little dove on the shelf and the bowl of Christmas ornaments add sparkle to my lipstick red bathroom.

Christmas is...... Christ

I love Christmas, the sights, the smells, the decorations, the feeling of expectation. There is something wonderful about having a whole season focused on.....

What is your focus? If you go into the world it is presents, the gimmee's, Santa, shopping, rushing, doing and all the stuff that goes along with it.

But to have a whole season to be able to be focused on Jesus, that is a gift. Yes, I know we should do that every day, but to have this season of anticipation... Can you imagine so long ago the anticipation they had waiting for Jesus to come? Knowing He would change their lives forever. Do you anticipate His second coming as much as you do Christmas? My children joke I am the biggest child at Christmas. I love to decorate for my family, to bake, to buy presents and look forward to how much they will enjoy them. I love to teach my children why we do the things we do at Christmas. Why do we give presents and decorate and bake. Each year we bake a lot. We carol and give cookies to out neighbors. It is my son's favorite activity for this time of year. He has been repeatedly asking when they can go give cookies out. And sing, loudly to the neighbors. I have been telling him he needs to wait within a week of Christmas. So yesterday was a week and they delivered cookies and had a wonderful time. Giving, not getting. Don't you imagine that Jesus is having a wonderful time anticipating us coming to heaven. We know He is getting a place ready for us. Don't you think it will be wonderfully decorated with a feast waiting for us. Isn't it hard to wait for that?

Thankfulness

Oh, Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.

Psalm 107:1

Today is the day we celebrate Thanksgiving but do we remember it on other days? The Lord is so good to us all days, not just thanksgiving day. I know I have so many things to be thankful for; a wonderful husband and children, a warm house, wonderful food to look forward to eat today, my mother-in-laws swift recovery. (She has already been moved to a rehab center and just had her hip replacement surgery Sunday) But what about the things we take for granted, things that might look like work, of instance. All the dishes after the meal, I hear groans from children sometimes helping to clean up or asking to use paper plates instead of china. Shouldn't we be thankful for a day to celebrate and us the china, be thankful for dished to wash. There had been plenty of food on the plates. Am I as thankful about folding clothes as I should be, after all they keep us warm and nicely(most of the time) covered. What about the ordinary things, a smile from a little one. Changing a diaper, wiping little faces, am I tired of repeating this activity over and over or am I thankful for the opportunity? I need to change my focus instead of it as another thing to do as an opportunity that God has given me to be thankful for. Lord, please help me to be thankful in all things.