I know. It is ten days until Christmas. I have been really struggling this season. With all of the health issues I have faced this year, Although I am starting to do a little better, I still just cannot do all that I used to be able to do.
At holiday time, the majority of the preparations are always done by...me. I decorate the house, bake the goodies, decorate the tree, write the annual Christmas letter, post it online and print it out, address and mail the cards, buy all the gifts, wrap all the presents, stuff all the stockings, cook the Christmas dinner and host the family get together, to list just some of what I have always been responsible for.
I came to the realization this year, I just am not up to all of it. And with that realization some of my joy deflated. Because I knew that if I did not do it, it would not get done.
I began listing in my mind what I could cut back on. I will not do any baking of goodies. I will not decorate the house. I will buy less gifts. I had pretty much decided not to write a Christmas letter. Then a lot of people started telling me how they were looking forward to getting the letter. SO that went back on the to do list.
I had even decided that if necessary, we would not have a tree. It is no fun for me to decorate it by myself. I wished in my heart that my grandson could come, like he did last year, and help me decorate it.
All of these thoughts led me to struggle to get into the Christmas spirit. SO I took out my Bible and read the Christmas story in the gospels. My heart began to stir as once again I felt the loving embrace of God's love in sending His beloved Son as a baby that first Christmas, to save me from my sin. As I rose from that place, I was renewed and revived with the reason for the season - Jesus.
My daughter emailed me and asked if she could bring my grandson for part of the weekend. God answered the unspoken prayer in my heart and my grandson helped decorate the tree with me. What a fun time we had.
Now I am catching up with preparing the Christmas letter, making some homemade gifts and addressing the cards. Then onto wrapping presents.
I may not be able to do as much or work as quickly as I used to, but my heart is full of the overwhelming love of God as I prepare for His Son's birth with a renewed joy.
5 comments:
Ruthie: This was wonderful to read,we get so caught up in our trial's we forget to remember,it's not present's we need, it's His presence. Being sick take's it's toll on our live's and God makes us slow down and appreciate Him and those around us.The angel he sent was your grandson, and the Lord hear's our heart's the loudest. I hope your Christmas is blessed and you all become healthier in the next year. It's easy to say one day at a time than to live it. Prayer's to you all. Carol Harker
A dear friend wanted to add this comment:
From reading your blog, it appears that you are beginning to improve, thanks be to God. I pray for you all the time. I hope you will continue to progress and that you will be pain-free very soon. I am certain that you are upset because you can’t do all the things you usually do for Christmas. Perhaps if you look at it from a different perspective, you may come to grips with it. Maybe, just maybe, our Lord wants you to have a respite to reconnect with him through God’s Word. Allow those words to penetrate the depth of your being. They will bring the consolation that can only be found when we rest in the arms of our Lord.
Many blessings, my dear, dear friend. I wish for you all that is good and holy.
Ruthie --- I enjoy your blogs so much. They often speak to my soul. The latest one is especially wonderful. I send to you my wishes for a holiday season which will be sprinkled with blessings everyday.
Thanks so much for your thoughts.
Dear Ruthie,
I think you wrote about something that we all struggle with. Sometimes the expectations about all that surrounds Christmas make us feel stressed and/or depressed.
But as you say, getting back to the true story of Christmas is what really matters. If we focus on that, whether we bake dozens of cookies is not so important.
I am happy to hear that you got to decorate your tree with your grandson. That must have been a special time for both of you.
Thank you for stopping by the Pearlfleur blog. I see that Fleur left you a message earlier today.
I send my sincere best wishes for a Christmas filled with blessings and better health for you in 2009.
I have enjoyed our "cyber" friendship and look forward to continuing it.
Pearl
I related to your comments but from a different perspective. We don’t even have our tree up yet due to schedule conflicts and sickness in the family. AND yesterday I discovered my oven is not working! (no Christmas cookies coming out of there!) I’m not sure what God wants me to learn from this very “un-Christmas-y” Christmas season. I’m glad you’re feeling improvements in your health and that you found the joy of the season.
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