Here it is 10:40 p.m. ET December 17th...
I'm supposed to be doing something productive, like trying to find our Christmas Card mailing list, working on the Christmas Letter or Christmas Cards, or burning CDs of things we will be giving as presents to relatives, and what am I doing?
Checking out the happenings on Bountiful forum, trying to carry on a semi-intelligent discussion about taxation and the role of government even though I'm brain dead, looking at friends blogs, and now, writing a short entry on my own blog...
We finally got our first real snowfall (like more than an inch that melts within 24 hours) Saturday and Sunday. So much snow that Church was canceled on Sunday and the schools decided they would stay closed today. Having a nice blanket of snow, and it feeling like winter finally does help... But One Night in Bethlehem was over two weeks ago, and despite the wonder and spirit of that event, it did little to get me in the "Festive" Christmas mood. It was simply too busy and too close to Thanksgiving this year. And then the stupid radio stations started playing Christmas music like the next day after Halloween. Okay, that is kind of stretching it unless you consider making people listen to the same 5 or 6 songs for weeks on end a sufficient way to extract information -- or in the case of the secular purpose for the season to send you to the stores to extract dollars from your wallet.
Anyway, I need about another month to really get into the "Festive" mood for Christmas. We never even got all the decorations up indoors or outdoors. And, having Ed McMahon show up on the doorstep with a giant sized check for $25,000.00 would help too!
But, as I close this little randomness of late evening mind wandering, the song "Oh Lord My Redeemer" by Jeff Goodrich comes on, and I am quickly reminded of the real peace and wonder of the season. Maybe I don't need another month, but a few days without all the commotion and distractions.
With seven days left, how do I get that peace to last for more than a few minutes and how do I get my family to bask in it as well? It is there for the having... maybe I just need to stop focusing in on the less important things and spend time on that which will feed and nourish the spirit.
1 year ago
