My Christmas of learning.

Life seems to be changing so much and so fast, that it only seems right that my "learning curve" might be just a bit off.  Nothing seems to be staying the same and the holidays are certainly no different.

I have noticed that there are alot of folks that are experiencing this same thing.  Its hard to explain, but I'll try.  I love preparing for Christmas and all that goes with that, but it all seems a bit hollow in some ways.  I was truly blessed that a friend from church reminded me that Christmas doesn't start the day after Halloween and that Advent(which starts right after Thanksgiving) is a season of preparation for Christmas.  Preparation doesn't mean just layering a bunch of tinsel on your house, but digging deep to "clean house".  Starting with getting rid of the "junk" in our lives and ending with some real soul searching.  Yikes! 

We may be able to flip a switch for the Christmas tree lights to come on, but our hearts don't have a switch.  We have to be responsible for searching, preparing and praying our way to Christmas.

This year I seem to be needing all three of those in huge amounts.  I think that all this celebration and excitement should be year round.  I feel hypocritical to do so much in such a short amount of time and deglect the same activities and people for the rest of the year.

 I need to feel connected to family year round.  I need to feel a sense of celebration about life on a daily basis.  I want to keep growing in anticipation of Jesus in my heart everyday.

Coming from a gal who use to be likened to Martha Stewart, I feel no need for the "stuff" this year.  I want my family close to me as much as possible and I want peace in my heart and in those around me.  I want to enjoy friendship and laughter as often as possible and I want to grow in my knowledge of God's word.

So I guess I have a pretty big lists of wants this year after all!!  But I'm not going to find them at the Mall and I'll probably need to get most of them on my own.  Deep down I know that only I can make the changes I need to feel able to truly say------Merry Christmas!