Holiday Hustle...

With only becoming a house-wife at the end of November, I made a vow to my family & myself that this holiday season would be our first 'stress-free' yet.  I did the gift shopping early & avoided the black-Friday crowds for the first time in four years.  Instead, the kids & I had a nice quiet day at home slowly putting up Christmas decorations at our own pace & enjoying our kittens amazement at all the sparkly decorations that they just knew were all for them!  The kids waited in anticipation for Dad to come back home from work so he could help finish the outside lights & be here for the last week of school, which was scheduled with band concerts, parties, & dances.  This year our church participated in the Christmas parade after taking a year break, & that was scheduled for that last week of school as well.  So, my loving, sweet, but very tired husband flew home after a hard 12 hour shift & without us even realizing it, was thrown into the Holiday Hustle!
 We had been going at our own slow pace & just kept going with all the scheduled events, dragging this tired man right along with us!  Don't get me wrong, he did complain...but he just kept right on going with us through that whole first week.  I have always said, & firmly believed that God works in mysterious ways & that everything happens for a reason.  Even though we thought we were moving at a slow pace, we were stopped completely at the end of that week.  I had gotten a cold that just wouldn't go away & settled in my chest.  After several doctor's visits, shots, meds, chest x-rays, & being kept at home for fear of spreading my germs.....our two weeks together were over & that tired man that we had dragged all over the place, had to get on a plane & fly back out for more hard work.  As we left the airport five days before Christmas, it dawned on me...we hadn't had a stress-free holiday season, just a more stretched out version that somehow took over our time together that we hold as precious.  So, for the past three days the kids & I have been spending 'real' time together...reading Christmas books, watching movies, doing crafts.
Now as I sit here early in the morning on Christmas Eve, that 'Holiday Hustle' is creeping back as I realize...I haven't wrapped any gifts, done all my cooking, finished cleaning the house, finalized the preparations for the children's skit at church...& the list goes on---sooo much to do!!!
God Bless