Is anyone else scrambling to get their Christmas "stuff" in order? You know, the tree, the decorations, the schedule for parties and special events at church? Does anyone else suffer from "perfectionism" (it is a disease you know!) like I do and make yourself miserable trying to make sure everything is "so so?"....you know, PERFECT! Seriously, I could (if not very careful) take something like decorating the tree and turn it into a very non enjoyable event because the ornaments are not spaced out enough...you know, for the slew of official tree Judges that will be coming through my house and all! Good Grief! I have no idea why I do this (and probably need medication for it!) So my prayers lately have been prayers of changing all that...trying this year to get back to basics...feeling the release from perfectionism bondage...to remember what this is all about anyway....not decorations...not the tree and it's symmetrical ornaments...and especially not finding "the perfect gift"...ooohh,I can really drive myself bonkers with this one! I want more for my kids....more than just the traditions.... I want them to grow closer to Christ throughout this month...in a real and authentic way...I want to shift their focus from Christmas wish lists to the Christmas Story...His story...His purpose...our purpose.
Our Jesus Tree has already been a huge help on our quest this year to "knowing Him" a little better...We read off lists of 100+ names for Jesus and the kids were supposed to tell us when one of the names I said made them think of who Jesus was to them....I loved that Aidan immediately said "Light" before I even started to read the list...Maggie tried correcting him suggesting he meant to say "Life"...but nope, he meant "Light!"...so we found that scripture...and maybe he had heard it before...maybe not...but I love that my little man had his mind made up about who Jesus was to him....names on it so far? Anointed, Light, Almighty, Prince of Peace, and Christ!
And the advent calendar....ahhh the advent calendar....I only wrote out our activities for one week since Adam works a crazy schedule....but I was overly ambitious I'm thinking! I know, shocking isn't it? :-) I never give my word unless I can keep it to them so I have been to the library twice hunting down "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" movie...I'm still not sure why they wouldn't just give me the number of the bozo that checked it out and never brought it back! :-) We settled for the book as a family read aloud...And then there's "A Christmas Story"...found that at Blockbuster....and the book "The Crippled Lamb" (one of my absolute favs!)...had to hunt it down like a rabid dog!...why pray tell, did I commit to watching movies and reading books that we do not own?!?! So, moral of the story? Go light with your advent...don't be an overachiever...it could very well ruin your happy little advent festivities when you can't actually accomplish your plans....We did however have a great time decorating our Jesus Tree, reading our books over hot cocoa (Mary's Treasure Box is good as well), playing a game of Monopoly for five minutes before switching to Uno Attack,and watching "The Littlest Angel"...tonight? Sleeping bags in the living room floor, popcorn, and "A Christmas Story" for McManus, Party of Five...hmmm, well look at that....
........PERFECTION! :-)
So what do you and your family do to stay Christ focused during this season?"And whatever I do, may it always bring glory to you"
