You hear a lot about the “Christmas Spirit!” I was pondering that today and this is the spirit that I experience at Christmas time…..STRESS, worry, anxiety, busyness, exhaustion, indebtedness, frustration, sleeplessness….shall I go on and I am just talking about myself! I don’t really know how to stop the madness. I would say it’s just because I have 5 kids but I don’t think that is the only reason. Friends of mine with 2.1 kids feel the same way! I truly desire and attempt to not forget the “reason for the season” but it just happens by default! I am looking at the week ahead and it’s daunting. I feel like every second of every day is packed with something. Not necessarily bad things but good things like, pep rallies, basketball games, Christmas parties, and more! Then you squeeze in all their various practices, gift buying, homework, midterms and poof it’s next week already! I am still trying to figure out a day I can take to celebrate my birthday with friends FROM LAST WEEK.
I hate the complaining that I have in my heart! I am blessed beyond measure but also STRESSED beyond measure too! I feel guilty that I would like to leave town until after Christmas! I am humming to myself, “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch!” Lord forgive me!! It’s suppose to be fun times with your family and friends but the way we have packed out our schedule, the fun may have to wait until, hmmmmm SUMMER??? It feels so wrong but yet I have no clue how to change it! I pray that somehow, I can steal away time with my kids to look at lights, sing Christmas carols, drink hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies like Elf that I taped! I'm praying that God will help me teach my kids that it’s not about getting more stuff that we don’t have room for or need but appreciating all that He was blessed us with already! A dear friend of mine just decided not to exchange gifts with her family but to still be together and was telling me how liberating it felt! Not sure how the 5 Wogs would feel about that at their age but I would love that!! Lord, help us all settle down, reach out to others in love and truly give the gift that will change lives, YOU!!
My kids are FINALLY able to let gift giving go, praise God! What I did with them from early on was to have them give away half their stuff over the Thanksgiving weekend to let them 1. clear out stuff they didn't use 2. See exactly how much stuff they really had 3. Bless others- it had to be working clean and have a useful life left. Half, no more no less. Then we discussed what they were really hoping to get and talked about budgets, needs vs. wants etc. having one income (part time) and 4 kids made our Christmases very meager by some counts, but I think my kids are all the richer for it!
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