It's December 14th. How did that happen? Seriously - it was just Thanksgiving a couple of days ago, right? Time flies by whether you want it to or not.
In the past two weeks we've been getting into the holiday spirit. We've decorated the house and Christmas tree. We've prepared teacher gifts and various cards for all the people that make school life fun, educational, and great for the kids. We did get the gifts mailed off to family across the miles. That felt great to send them on their way! Don gave me some time last week to run around at night to do grocery shopping and do a bit of Christmas shopping. What a gift!
Last week I helped a friend host a table at a Women's Christmas Tea at her church. It was so wonderful to sit in a room with close to 200 women and actually celebrate Christmas. This wasn't a 'happy holidays' tea, it was about Christmas. There were talented singers who shared Christmas carols, a skit about Mary's role in being pregnant with Jesus, and there was a woman who spoke about living our faith in life, not just this season. It was so wonderful, comfortable, and makes me long for more of that atmosphere. It was a night about sharing friendships, laughter, faith and the Word of God. It was a wonderful thing for me. I know, a bit religious today...but it is where my heart and head is lately.
I have also spent some time in the past two weeks delivering meals to families at our church. One friend had eye surgery, there's a woman who has been diagnosed with cancer and another family at our church lost their 8 year old daughter to a mighty battle with leukemia. We also learned that Don's Dad has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. It has been an emotional couple of weeks for me. I wish we were physically closer to Don's family - we'd go see him, give him a hug, and just be there. I didn't know the family that lost their daughter, but I have friends who knew their daughter. It is sad and hard to imagine what their family is going through right now. I did what I do when my heart aches - I prepared food for the funeral reception at our church and I continue to pray for them every day. It's a prayerful time in our church and household.
It's Advent - it's a traditional season of preparing and reflecting on prayers that we share in our home and at church. We prepare for Christmas, we prepare and talk about the birth of Jesus, and I'm learning, there is preparing to be done for school related activities. There was a Winterfest at school for the boys two weeks ago. It's a PTA fundraising craft fair - buy tickets, make crafts, and gather as a community at the school. They also had Winter Sharing this past Friday - each grade sings various Christmas and other holiday songs, again to gather as a community and share the joy of the season. Anna will have her Christmas singing and luncheon this Thursday. It's all busy, fun stuff that the kids are thrilled to participate in and share with us.
That's the good stuff in life - the excitement, sharing, and fun that the kids bring to every day life. Despite the hard, unfair things that happen, it's the delight in the moment, the taking in of fun, the preparing and sharing for the good and hard things in life, that makes it all work some how.
I've been running around doing and preparing over the past couple of weeks. Some of it is for good things, some of it is for sad things. It fills my heart and head with peace and comfort, when I do something to help others. Maybe it's just delivering food, saying prayers, inviting friends over for dinner, snuggling a bit more with the kids, or just being still. It feels good to me - to help, offer a place to land, be still and pray that others have peace and comfort. And, when I find I need a place to land, I seem to go to my faith and my family. That's where I land amidst the craziness, hard stuff, and to give thanks for the great stuff in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment