Christmas Crazies

Things are busy. Ridiculously busy. I'll admit being a brownie leader has taken a lot of the spare time I thought I was going to have this year to do other things. So that is part of it. That and all the other smaller commitments I already had going on.

With Christmas just a few weeks away, I feel the stress mounting. I don't have many child-free days left, and even those are filled with class parties, hair appointments, and other commitments. We have Christmas dance performances, Christmas piano recitals, class Christmas parties, husband's work party, church Christmas party (just had it - I was on the committee), church women's group progressive Christmas dinner (appetizers at my house), nieces' Nutcracker performance, and oh yeah, let's not forget all the shopping, wrapping, visits to Santa, and just entertaining the kids once they out of school with some fun Christmas activities.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE all those things!  But it's too many! Why is it so different as an adult? As a child we get to go and do and enjoy all those things. As an adult perhaps it's because so much responsibility rests on our shoulders that it's just too much when you put it all together. Does that mean I want to scale down? Well, yes and no. Maybe it would be good to not feel like we have to engage in all that, but then again, it all kind of comes with the territory. And I've never been one that likes to miss out on things. Just wish it weren't so stressful. Kind of TAKES AWAY from the Christmas spirit in reality. At least I think so.

It's a double-edged sword I suppose. I know I'm not going to scale down. I would rather do those things because I feel like the kids enjoy it so much. But where is the time to just sit and remember the things that are truly important. As we celebrate the birth of the Savior, do we really take the time to sit and appreciate why this entire season of fun and celebration even came about? And do we think about what it means for us personally and for the world that God sent His Son to save and redeem us from our sins, so that we can live forever with Him? It really IS good news.

And are we caught up in the buying and the shopping? It's hard not to be. But when I hear of people struggling financially (I mean REALLY struggling), it feels odd to be buying so much. We are really trying to give more this year, because we can and we should. And yet it still feels odd. So much excess in our society. It often seems ridiculous to me.

I just wish it could all slow down. Maybe the stores are right? Maybe we SHOULD start Christmas back in October?  Okay I'm just kidding. That is a whole other story. I was really bothered about Black Friday starting on Thanksgiving this year. We all know it's just a matter of time. It's sad. Instead of spending some nice time enjoying our families and expressing gratitude, now if you don't want to miss out on the good deals, you're going to have to start shopping that afternoon. Did you hear about all the altercations that occurred at stores all around the country? There was a time when I loved shopping on Black Friday (pre-child days), but no thank you anymore.

So now that I've brought everybody down, perhaps the moral of the story is that we try to find a way to focus on Jesus Christ this season and what He would want us to be doing. What can our gift be to Him? Hmmm. Food for thought.