Merry Christmas Post

OK, so this post is about God and Jesus.  It doesn't look like it at first, but it is.  So if you are not "into" religion and faith, check back after the holidays.  Because I can't write my last post before Christmas and not have it be about what I believe in with all my heart.  So I'll catch you on the flip side of Christmas, and not to worry, I have what I hope to be a very funny post planned.

It's been a busy week, and I'm still not ready for Christmas.  We've baked cookies, and even with all the baking we still have chocolate chip cookies to make and decorate the cutout cookies we made.  I haven't even touched much in the way of wrapping yet.  I still have one more gift to make.  We went to Jamey's mom's house on Tuesday to help decorate her place.  Then last night we went on a tacky light tour with Joshua.  He loved it.  Today, Jamey's office is hosting a Christmas lunch, and so we are going to eat lunch downtown.

My house is a wreck and I have mountains of laundry to do.  We are hosting Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow for my family.  So my parents, my sister and her family (and us of course) will all be here tomorrow night after church.  And you would think with all I have to do I'd be totally stressed. 

But I'm not!

I posted a week or two ago about how much work there is to do around getting ready for Christmas.  I always try to be organized and all, but it never works out and I end up feeling like I have a lot to do before the big day.  But something funny happens the closer it gets.  I start to get quiet.  I start to realize that it doesn't matter if I didn't bake all the cookies I had planned on baking. 

It doesn't matter if I didn't mail out any Christmas cards. (And I didn't.  So here.  Picture a card with a smiling picture of Jamey, Joshua, Quincy and me on the front in cute matchy matchy outfits.  Got it?  Good.  Now open it.  Read the words.  They say, "For God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son. . ."  Then it says, "May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"  And we've all signed it (except Quincy of course).  Didn't Joshua do a good job signing his name?  Cool.  Cards done.)

It doesn't matter that my house isn't perfect.  It does matter if I don't have the presents wrapped, but Jamey will help me tonight, so that will get done.  All that really matters is why we celebrate.  It's not to get loot.  It's not to see how many piece of ham we can put on a roll or how many cookies is too many cookies to eat in one serving.  It's not so we can take an ugly holiday sweater, make it uglier and then wear it to a party with a bunch of other ugly holiday sweaters.

As this week has passed, I have started to remember more and more why we celebrate.  And I reflect on it.  And it's wonderful.  I love this feeling.  It swells within me, and I wish I could capture it somehow and hand it out to everyone, and we could all remember this feeling and keep it close to our hearts all the time.  I feel it sometimes when it's not Christmas.  But I'm human, and I have faults, and that makes it hard to keep that feeling all the time.  So I relish it when it is with me almost on a constant level.  It's lovely.

I don't mean to be all preachy on here, but you know.  It's Christmas.  And so I have to say what I personally believe.  I know I've said it before, but it is worth repeating.  It's because of Jesus.  He was born so that we could all be saved. 

I hope you all have an extremely blessed and Merry Christmas.