Christmas-able. It's a thing.
I found a way past Christmas-weary. I think I want to share it. My statement about feeling weary of the season was genuine and honest. The demands of the holidays can be exhausting. They are especially so if you, like me, don't want to miss anything. If you don't want to miss anything AND you want to feel deeply moved and inspired by the holiday......well.....that is wearisome.
Because I was honest with my feelings, God heard my whispered lament. He saw the stress lines on my face and how I rub my forehead when I am thinking hard.... and he heard each one of my deep sighs. Maybe He smiled. Maybe He heaved a heavy sigh himself.....but however he responded, He moved for me.
I began to smell the fragrant pine scent of our real Christmas tree. Some years I cannot smell it past the first day. As I sit here writing, I am smelling it so strongly and intensely that it makes me smile. He wants me to know......He wants me to enjoy all of it. The smell of a fresh Christmas Tree is exceptional and unworldly....and I love it.
I found some inspiration for gift-buying and enjoyed shopping and wrapping. I started to listen to Pentatonix Holiday station whenever I was home. I felt less burdened.
Thursday morning, my teen son Isaac woke us up in the early morning with a phone call. He had had an accident in his car on the way to weight-lifting and hit black ice and spun and crashed. Roger went to him. I kept him on the phone. He was ok, only mild injury. The car is totaled. This year. This. Year. Having my son alive and well is reason to celebrate Christmas. He is shaken and rattled by the incredible understanding of how much worse it could have been.....and so am I. I am no longer Christmas-weary. I am so, so grateful.
Later that same day I did a visit with a client who is having a really hard time. In every aspect of her life, things are hard. Facing Christmas when everything stands against her is so painful. They cannot even "do" Christmas this year. There is no money to buy gifts or special food. There is no reason to celebrate this year. It's not that they have chosen to not buy gifts for loved ones and opted to do a family vacation instead....they for real have no way to do Christmas. How could I stay Christmas-weary when someone special to me cannot do Christmas.......I tried to share with her that this holiday is about Jesus....and that He loves her......but it is a hard sell to someone who has been hurt over and over and over in her young life. I invited her to church with me whenever she wants to go.....it is my Christmas wish tonight that she will eventually say "yes".
Thursday night we went to the final Christmas concert for Claire at her high school. This school has exceptional musical talent and the holiday concert is so good. Band. Choir. Orchestra. They end every year with the Halleluiah chorus.....and I listened to it from my seat and watched the students and faculty and parents who chose to stand on stage and sing.....and my paradigm shifted. I became no longer Christmas-weary. I became Christmas-humble. Christmas-grateful. Christmas-inspired. Christmas-empowered. Christmas-able.
Today I set up gingerbread house kits for the littles to build. It was an epic-fail. The dumb frosting wouldn't stick. The glue-gun failed. I decided....go free form guys. Just decorate away and have fun....and they did. It was awesome. I spent the day busy and tonight I hoped to take the kiddos to bed early because they were up late last night....but they asked to watch The Grinch Stole Christmas.....and really? How could we not. So here we are. Watching The Grinch. Feeling grateful and blessed.....and so able to do the holiday.
Because I was honest with my feelings, God heard my whispered lament. He saw the stress lines on my face and how I rub my forehead when I am thinking hard.... and he heard each one of my deep sighs. Maybe He smiled. Maybe He heaved a heavy sigh himself.....but however he responded, He moved for me.
I began to smell the fragrant pine scent of our real Christmas tree. Some years I cannot smell it past the first day. As I sit here writing, I am smelling it so strongly and intensely that it makes me smile. He wants me to know......He wants me to enjoy all of it. The smell of a fresh Christmas Tree is exceptional and unworldly....and I love it.
I found some inspiration for gift-buying and enjoyed shopping and wrapping. I started to listen to Pentatonix Holiday station whenever I was home. I felt less burdened.
Thursday morning, my teen son Isaac woke us up in the early morning with a phone call. He had had an accident in his car on the way to weight-lifting and hit black ice and spun and crashed. Roger went to him. I kept him on the phone. He was ok, only mild injury. The car is totaled. This year. This. Year. Having my son alive and well is reason to celebrate Christmas. He is shaken and rattled by the incredible understanding of how much worse it could have been.....and so am I. I am no longer Christmas-weary. I am so, so grateful.
Later that same day I did a visit with a client who is having a really hard time. In every aspect of her life, things are hard. Facing Christmas when everything stands against her is so painful. They cannot even "do" Christmas this year. There is no money to buy gifts or special food. There is no reason to celebrate this year. It's not that they have chosen to not buy gifts for loved ones and opted to do a family vacation instead....they for real have no way to do Christmas. How could I stay Christmas-weary when someone special to me cannot do Christmas.......I tried to share with her that this holiday is about Jesus....and that He loves her......but it is a hard sell to someone who has been hurt over and over and over in her young life. I invited her to church with me whenever she wants to go.....it is my Christmas wish tonight that she will eventually say "yes".
Thursday night we went to the final Christmas concert for Claire at her high school. This school has exceptional musical talent and the holiday concert is so good. Band. Choir. Orchestra. They end every year with the Halleluiah chorus.....and I listened to it from my seat and watched the students and faculty and parents who chose to stand on stage and sing.....and my paradigm shifted. I became no longer Christmas-weary. I became Christmas-humble. Christmas-grateful. Christmas-inspired. Christmas-empowered. Christmas-able.
Today I set up gingerbread house kits for the littles to build. It was an epic-fail. The dumb frosting wouldn't stick. The glue-gun failed. I decided....go free form guys. Just decorate away and have fun....and they did. It was awesome. I spent the day busy and tonight I hoped to take the kiddos to bed early because they were up late last night....but they asked to watch The Grinch Stole Christmas.....and really? How could we not. So here we are. Watching The Grinch. Feeling grateful and blessed.....and so able to do the holiday.
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