We're down to the "Christmas rush"...those last few days, when we're squeezing in everything extra along with the everyday routines and chores and responsibilities.
We wonder how it will all ever get done.
Somehow it does. And we sleep a little in between all those lists.
We may have to re prioritize our time and eliminate some things we really thought we should do, but now cannot do.
This, too, for moms, is one of "those Christmas things"... we recognize that niggling panicked feeling.
SO much to do, SO little time!
But sometimes, we're so intent on the goal that we miss the scenery on the way by.
Like the excited face of a child...looking at the lights on the tree or dreaming of a toy they want. We remember back to our own childhood how thrilling it was when the lights came on and that meant Christmas was coming soon. What a feeling! May it always be so for our children and theirs.
But when we're no longer children, and we are the ones making Christmas happen in our homes...it may take a little more to get the feeling we remember.
It might mean that we must take notice of the Christmas tree lights reflecting on the window--the way the frost is curling just so around the window to frame it...and we remember that is Christmas, too.
We see the wrapping paper, ribbon, and scraps of paper thrown willy nilly, and remember that, too, is Christmas.
We see the Salvation Army kettle and hear the kind attendant ringing that bell, and that, too is one of the sounds of Christmas that we have heard for our whole lives--if we just stop to notice...
We walk through the grocery store, and notice that the customers are talking just a little more animatedly and have a more excited sound in their voices, and that, too is part of this wonderful season.
The heavenly scent of those tangerines you walked by, the mixed nuts ready to scoop up and take home, all remind you of the scents of your Christmas stocking when you were knee-high to a grasshopper ...
Greetings between friends and acquaintances are just a little more warm, a little more sincere this time of year than any other. That is Christmas!
It's all combined to make a warm, wonderful, light time of celebration.
And as long as we have our family, we're fine. That's all we need.
And somehow, on the day we celebrate, we feel it all come together. And it's all just fine--no matter what may be left undone.
The greeting cards in the mailbox, peppermint, the eggnog, the ham, the sugar cookies, the cute ornaments and decorations your kids made through the years; it all just gently urges us to get us to that ...
Wonderful feeling of CHRISTMAS.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
See you on the other side of New Year's!
XOXO
Joni
