Advent

*I wrote this last week but forgot to post it.


The coming of Christmas ponderings...


Oy, this is going to be a crabby post!  I was thinking this morning about how all my Advent plans went completely kaput as a result of being overly busy this week.  Most of every thing that we have done has been special in its own account but tallied up it has taken away from my own ideals of preparing for the Christmas season.

For me, I love the idea of Advent...taking a month of purposeful and consistent focus on the prophesies and fulfillment of the Messiah, on the gift of salvation, and on His promised return.  The Bible is full of beautiful truths and it is woven so amazingly through the Bible in its entirety.  Sometimes I have trouble seeing the big picture but Advent pulls it all together for me.  I was prepared this year!  I had a devotion where we would read through scripture and learn the names of Jesus.  I had our traditional Jesse Tree and ornaments and readings all mapped out.  We purchased the sequel to Jotham's Journey (Bartholomew's Passage) for nightly reading and I had checked out tons of Advent and Christmas books from the library with the idea that I would read multiple stories every day leading up to Christmas.  I searched Pinterest and printed out crafty projects to do for school.  None of this is happening!  We did some, we had some days where I did catch up, but mostly, it all just fell apart because we are too busy!

The week, before Christmas break bad weather started Wednesday afternoon and Thursday and Friday were snow days.  I released the children from schooling in favor of running and playing in the snow. This is where we started to fall behind. 

Friday and Saturday, Cliff and Tracy came down to a house they had rented with extended family and we spent the weekend at the rental hanging out and playing games.  Saturday, we also had a walk through of the house with the relator (which I saw for the first time).  

Sunday, Phil participated in both the Christmas services and then we spent Sunday afternoon and evening Christmas shopping and trying to find dresses for the girls to wear to the Nutcracker. 

Monday, we were supposed to meet out at the house with the inspector but it was canceled, instead we had to pick out paint colors for the tech department offices.  Phil had to put in a work day and we had piano lessons.  Brighton fractured his tooth (the one he broke up in Seattle) and we had to squeeze in a dental appointment as well.  

Tuesday, I had to cancel an activity we had planned to attend at the church because we had the rescheduled inspection of the house.  Phil had a full day of work and there was a piano recital in the evening.

Wednesday, was Evi's birthday.  Phil took her to the grocery store to get breakfast cereal and groceries for dinner and picked up a ton of moving boxes.  We took the children to see the new Star Wars movie in the afternoon with my parents and cousins and then had a big dinner.  

Thursday, the girls had a 4-H party, then a special afternoon/evening with my parents getting their nails done and then going to the Nutcracker.  Phil had an appointment with the county office in charge of permits to find out what we needed to do for the house.  He spent a good part of the day in town including looking at a table on Craig's list (we are in desperate need of a real table). I packed up bookshelves and had a chiropractor appointment.  Phil had to drive back to my parents at 9:30 to pick up the girls.  Brighton got bonked in the face and the fractured tooth broke off.

Friday (today), Phil has a shooting get together with a bunch of friends that was scheduled a long time ago.  We have to pick up the dining table and chairs that we bought, I have to get my license renewed if I am going to be driving around next week.  I have Christmas shopping left to do (which I am rather stressed about...I don't like being rushed and feeling like I have to settle rather than find something I am really excited to give) and we are having a birthday dinner get together tonight for Tina's birthday.  

Tomorrow, is Christmas Eve.  We will likely spend the day shopping and wrapping presents and then having dinner at my parents.

Sunday is Christmas, and we are going to church (I think) in the morning, then to my parents for b-fest and presents, and then back again for dinner.

We are listing our house on the market and so we need to have the garage mostly emptied and our house down to bare bones.  So far, I have managed to pack 4 boxes.

This past week, we did not have LiPS tutoring up in Portland and I canceled Brighton and Glorielle's speech appointments for Friday.  Phil was also on the phone non stop with finance companies, the county, the relator, and drawing up house plans.  We have talked house costs and plans until we are blue in the face!

We got totally sucked up into the busy of life and it feels like we completely lost sight of being still before the Lord during this holiday season.  I was thinking...what if next year, I just said no to everything (but birthdays and family visits) the week before Christmas.  We stayed at home, read stories and played games by the fire, crocheted/felted/sewed/did crafts, put together puzzles, maybe went on a winter hike, and just rested and relaxed.  No late night outs, no errands, no appointments, no parties.  Could I do that? Can I get myself organized enough to not be running around Christmas shopping last minute?  Can I say no to so many good things to have resting time for our family?

Boxes, boxes, boxes...and so it begins.

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