Unplugging the Christmas Machine

'Tis the season.  The season of shopping, decorating, holiday parties, baking, wrapping, and anticipating.  All too often in my life, it's the season of extreme busy-ness, "have-tos" and unmet expectations.  This year, I'm unplugging the Christmas machine.

The reality is that with 5 kids, a certain amount of "busy" comes with the territory.  And the equal reality is that much of what is on the family calendar and on the to-do list does not "have" to be done.  This is going to be an Advent season of conscious choices.

Yesterday, for instance, was our foster care agency's Christmas party.  We'd have enjoyed that so much.  But that fun would have been sandwiched between church, picking up a child from a slumber party, my week to cook for the youth at church and Pepper's RE class.  It was already a full day; that "one more thing" was the thing that threatened to be the apple that upset the whole cart.  I said, "No thank you."  I felt a little guilty.  Instead, we had a great day.  There was no pressure getting home from the Second Sunday of Advent.  I had plenty of time to both hang out with the little ones and  get ready for my team's cooking evening.  Everything simply went more smoothly because of that one less thing. 

"Advent" means the beginning, the commencement, and a new start.  Instead of seeing the Advent season as the weeks we speed through to get to Christmas, I'm looking at Advent as a new beginning.  We are preparing our hearts -- and maybe we will have time to prepare the house too.  We are slowing down and taking the scenic route through Advent to Christmas.  By the time we get there, we'll be ready -- I'll be ready. 

Part of BLORA lights display at Fort Hood (2010)

Yes, we will decorate and listen to the Christmas music;  we will bake and shop; we will wrap presents and celebrate with friends but we will not join in the holiday madness.  We'll have no batting coaching, no piano lessons and no "routine" doctor's appointments.  We'll choose carefully the holiday parties we attend and discern between true traditions and holiday habits.  We're unplugging the Christmas machine and plugging into family life.  Happy Advent!

The Present Present

(pictured: Sharon Parish)

One of my beautiful daughters is an enthusiastic 10 year old, Chanelle. She has been very distracted of late by a giant present that I hid in plain site on a high shelf in the laundry room. Since she discovered it last week, "the present" has been a part of at least a half-dozen conversations every day.

When I wrapped that particular gift, I was thinking of my absent soul-mate and "sister," Sharon Parish. She infused me with an enthusiasm for taking my time in wrapping gifts and presenting them lovingly, beautifully and with care. In fact, much of her life was "wrapped" with great care . . . lovingly . . . beautifully. It was so inspiring to me.

The present. Sharon was a master of it. She used to sit for hours making little woodland creatures with acorn caps for hats. She sewed their tiny felt costumes and embellished them with embroidery thread. She did this without worrying about the laundry, her job, or anything at all. As she wrapped those tiny figures in beautiful clothes, she did so in the present. She took this approach to each thing she undertook. If she and I were on the phone, it was as if she had all the time in world. I am still evoked and challenged by Sharon's sense of time expanding to accommodate all of her life.

Chanelle will still have to wait two days for that big, intriguing present in the laundry room to find it's way under the Christmas tree. There is a lot I could do (housework, raking leaves, going crazy with the cleaning and decorating), but not a lot I'm planning to do. I'm committed to wrapping my world and my present in love and beauty. I'm soaking the most out of every precious moment. And the laundry? Well, it may have to wait!


(Thank you, Sharon. Miss you!)