Countdown.....4 more to go...

Four more days to go!
I don't want to feel stressed or overwhelmed by the season...........seems like we prepare and plan for so long....contemplate gifts...lovingly and carefully wrap them...plan meals, bake...and poof!  It is over.....the living room is piled with wrapping paper...the kitchen is your worst nightmare and the dishwasher is on it's second round!    

I don't want the stress...I don't want the letdown feeling when it is over.....I want the season to last and savor the event....I don't want the gifts and hustle and bustle and messy aftermath to overshadow The Birth.   

I want peace in my home, peace within our family, peace on earth.....His perfect peace.
Looking forward to a candlelight Christmas Eve service.....our granddaughter is hoping for a plastic candle...she doesn't think she can handle a real one....

Think of that pregnant young girl....most likely in labor traveling by donkey...no hospital..no room even in the inn....how overwhelmed she must have been...so young...so innocent....no real idea of what the birth of her child would mean to us....centuries later...The stable most likely wasn't nice and clean like the one we see at a church nativity..it was probably stinky, dirty, straw is prickly....  The Shepherds who visited lived with sheep and goats on hillsides....they most likely smelled terrible, too.....

Take time to breathe....take time to read that wondrous story again....the story of
Hope, Promise, Joy and Love......

Bah humbug!

Just reading an article on the evil's of Elf on a Shelf.....come on people...it's just an Elf!
I suppose one could get carried away and put the fear of Santa into your children sending them quivering in fear to bed to have nightmares of evil tattling elves...... or you can just have a little fun.   We just hide our elf and the children have to find him each morning.  Sometimes he does get into a little mischief...........   One issue I do have however, the children are supposed to behave or Santa will hear about it, but the elf can make a terrible mess....how does that work?  Lighten up momma and have a little fun!

When we were growing up my mom was very big on tradition and beginning new ones.
We had a little angel that we would hide.   The person who found it got to be the next one to hide it.   Sadly, one year one of us hid it too well and we never found it again.   

The huge thing is to find a balance at Christmas.   Where do you put your emphasis?
The importance is not to let elves and santa over shadow the the real reason for the season.
Gaze in wonder at that beautiful manger scene...........savor the dazzling lights...contemplate the flames from the candles and the fire place...and remember our Saviour came to earth as a babe.... a true miracle!

Funny........

It's that Fall time again......the time before the s.......  At least it is still warm and pleasant, even tho' the trees are naked....
Funny.....as I read previous blogs that I wrote... I wonder where all those words came from....some even are quite profound...I amaze myself....
And this blog is an echo of the last one I wrote.........I feel so burdened and tired...so many people needing our help and prayer.....One is facing serious surgery....one has cancer....one is undergoing tests to find why they can't balance their electrolytes....a marriage is struggling....children are the victims of divorce.....a man is homeless and to proud to ask for help.....O, Lord, we just commit all this suffering unto You....You are the great Healer, You, the one who created us....You know our needs.............