Adventwreath

The holiday season seems to have snuck-up on me this year and I feel rushed.  Rushed to put-up decorations.  Rushed to shop for gifts.  Rushed to write and mail Christmas cards.  Rushed to get into the holiday spirit.  I lay in bed this morning, praying for an attitude adjustment.  That I might replace my shortness with my boy and girl with a loving, gentle disposition.  My boy and girl are just about to burst with anticipation while I snip and snap at them, trying to maintain some sort of control.  At our house, the normal childhood excitement mixed with autism and ADHD produces some pretty intense energy around here, usually in the form of fast, incessant talking,  impulsive little bodies, and an insatiable desire for attention and entertainment.

Needless to say, I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with all this unbridled energy, desperate to slow the pace down just a hair.  I need to slow-down for me.  I need to slow down for my family.  Since becoming a mama, I’ve always tried to make sure that the birth of Jesus stay right up there with the arrival of Santa. Surely, an uptight and irritable mama is not the best example of Love come down on Earth.  My boy and girl happily decorated our tree this afternoon (I didn’t move even one ornament!), I finished a batch of cards to be mailed and now that the majority of the gifts have arrived via USPS (Thank you, God, for online shopping!), I gratefully feel myself beginning to relax into the Season.

Each year, I find myself in this same conundrum – Part of me really does enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  And the other part of me, screams for quiet and calm.  Thankfully, the latter part usually gets to settle-in once the initial preparations are made.  Now that the advent wreath graces the dinner table’s center, I enjoy watching the flicker of the candle each evening as we follow Mary’s journey to Bethlehem.  And thanks to my friend Cheryl sharing her family’s tradition with me, we have started our very own “20 Books of Christmas.”  All of the holiday books collected throughout the years are now individually wrapped and lovingly sit in a basket near the hearth.  Instead of devouring all the books at once, as in the past, my boy and girl look forward to choosing one book to unwrap each evening when we can cuddle together on the couch and rediscover an old favorite or maybe even a new one.  Llama Llama, Holiday Drama was quite a hit yesterday evening!

I imagine that most of us mammas carry an extra load of stress around the holidays.  At the same time, if we can intentionally weave quiet moments amidst the busyness, we allow our hearts to truly prepare for the coming of our Savior.  So, go ahead and take that bubble bath, sit-down for a cup of tea, close your eyes for a few moments, and remember to breathe.  It’s all good.

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