LET IT GO!

Lillian found this fantastic Creative Christmas Countdown

Today's post is so perfect as the Advent candles burn to nubs and we round the corner toward Christmas day.

I have fallen victim to “The Perfect.” Yes, even when you have written about how not to get wrapped up in perfection during the holidays, you can still wind up holding out a “Perfect” in front of you.

Ohhh, it was sneaky this year. I didn’t even realize it was happening. It turns out, when your “Perfect Christmas” doesn’t involve all of the Hallmark trimmings (though my Perfect Christmas has some of those too) but when your perfect is more involved with spending time with family, baking and making things- you can wind up looking at other people’s “Perfect Christmas” ideals and feel like, “Haha! I’m not getting wrapped up in that. I’m not holding on to some huge crazy Christmas ideal.”

Oh dear. I know I’m in trouble any time I wind up judging other people’s ideals. CRUD

During a long conversation with my husband, during an overwhelmed and tearful conversation, (it’s hard to let go of your perfect. It’s rather humbling.) I realized still have my own Perfect, getting in my way of being present and enjoying what is.

Strangely some of my “Perfect” revolves around “never becoming stressed or overwhelmed.” Well- that’s out the window now.

::sigh:: OK- I have I have to let go of my OWN perfect. OK

I will have to call people and cancel our dinner plans. I will have to further edit the gift list as I’m not finished with some of them. Even though I started thinking about cards in the beginning of December, I still didn’t get around to printing them, so I think I’ll have to let those go for this year too. I’ve got to Let GO if I want any chance of enjoying this year as it is.


I admit it’s frustrating to feel like I need to let go of so much, but what I am trying to remember is:

-- My kids are having a magical childhood. To them a sheet of shiny Christmas stickers is magic. It doesn’t take much!
-- I might not have every last thing done that I hoped, but that’s alright. My children live in the present and see the magic of what is, and I can choose to let go.
-- It is a busy year for us. If we are able to maintain connection with each other, we are doing well.
-- If we don’t do every last exciting thing, heck, if we don’t do HALF the exciting things-that’s just motivation to find exciting ways to sprinkle magic into the rest of the year as well. No reason December should have all the fun.

So if you are stressing and worried, and it’s feeling like the avalanche of expectations is sweeping you away, take a deep breath and see if you can let go of your perfect.

It might make you feel vulnerable or upset, but it means that you will then be open to what is really happening. You won’t have an obnoxious and annoying Perfect getting in your way so you’ll be able to notice the unexpected moments of joy and the happiness that are already there.

You are enough. You are doing enough. If it feels like you can’t do anymore, but the world thinks you should- trust this: If you can’t do anymore, it is not you that is wrong. You are enough.

Let Go of Your Perfect.

Thanks for listening and helping me let go of mine. (I’ve loosened my grasp at least…)

Lets enjoy the next few days shall we?

-- Alissa Marquess, from her blog creativewithkids.com

A Promise

A couple weeks ago I attended a Christmas brunch and soaked up the beautiful words of a wise woman. It was one of those moments where the minute Laura started speaking was the same minute a lump arrived in my throat. Her words spoke straight to my heart.

A group of preschoolers had just left the stage after singing Jingle Bells as best they could, most with smiles on their faces. Laura remarked of their smallness, their sweetness and then asked, "How did we get here? So busy and burdened?"

She spoke of Advent as being a time of preparing for Jesus' "coming" and that for her the word "longing" was what was on her heart this year. Advent as a season to express longing back to Jesus. She urged us all to listen, to be still, to pour out our desires to Jesus. She shared a verse she had recently discovered:

"What a person desires
is unfailing love."
-- Proverbs 19:22

Laura urged us to prepare room in our hearts and our lives for Jesus to come and reminded us that unless He shows up in our weary hearts, unless He rescues us, we will show up empty handed in the ways that matter most in our lives.

"Pray. Meditate. Read scripture," she offered. "He wants to come for you. He will come for you."

-- Lillian Craze

The Laundry Fairy

A friend told me that after hearing her sister-in-law's plight (fulltime work out of town and lots of long extra hours helping a Christmas charity) she snuck into her house this weekend while the family was away and washed and folded all of her laundry for her. (TWELVE LOADS!) Her sister-in-law called her bawling, she could barely speak her gratitude. What an amazing Christmas gift, free and from the heart.

How have you helped those you know in little ways that mean a lot? Maybe you held a baby while a harried Mom was shopping? Watched a kid while his parents attended a long, boring Christmas concert rehearsal? Helped someone decorate or wrap?

I hate that the busyness we all experience gets in the way of reaching out to others and hope that in the vacation downtime, a few more small opportunities will turn up before it's back to the grind in January.

The New Nativity of New Zealand

Get ready for the most precious, clever and sassiest Nativity re-creation of all time. (Am I the only one it reminds of the movie "Where the Wild Things Are" in style, coloring and setting?)

This is great and perfect timing after the big show last night:


St. Paul's Church in Auckland, New Zealand

The power to surprise

My once-upon-a-baby will be six tomorrow.

You'll remember the annual rush-about to get ready for the grandparents' visit? That didn't really happen today. And the baby boy was the reason why.

He was scheduled to go to see a movie with his Nana (Bob's mom) this afternoon. But adorably, he cancelled on her at the last minute because he was in a true panic about missing his Christmas pageant at church tonight. He was a shepherd and he had a line to speak so he absolutely, positvely couldn't be late. I got out a real clock (remember those?) and rotated the hands around and around to show him that he would have more than an hour and half after returning home from the movie before we had to be at church, But that wasn't enough cushion for his liking.

So when Nana arrived, he asked her if he could take his "favorite brothers" and "maybe go do something else nearby like get some ice cream?" She was more than happy to oblige as the simplicity of the request touched her heart. Plus it saved her a drive to Conyers for the theater and probably quite a bit of money too. I was more than happy to bid the big hyper group goodbye and have a little quiet which always makes the rushing around seem way less rushed to me.

Then Bob turned up early from work (yep, he's so busy this month he worked on Sunday) so we pitched in together (I made the cake while he made the pizzas) and got it all done very smoothly. Even had time left over to wash all the bathrooms and even a few windows, oh my!

The departure for church was a little reminiscent of The Worst Christmas Pageant Ever (Jeremy broke Lucca's King Herod crown, Robby the narrator couldn't find his Christmas tie anywhere, Bob mentioned five minutes before we left that he still needed to shower) but inevitably, it all came together. It always does.

The mouse was missing an ear, the camel tried to walk off stage before it was over, Mary's veil fell off and everyone laughed when the innkeeper snarled "Go away!"

But everyone cried too when Sarah Gallagher sang Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven" and played the piano for it, as well. And my old jaded heart just about burst out of my chest watching my three up there... Robby with his soft, slow voice, making the Christmas story sound like a lullabye... Lucca holding his kingly proclamation, his proud unrolling of the scrolls and his deep ordering of the Wise Men to go and find the Christ child so that he might also worship... Jeremy, the smallest shepherd with the loudest voice, singing every word, and yes, right on time....

There is nothing like a good old tradition to make you feel at home in the holiday again. Welcome back Christmastime!

Advent Doodles

So Amy is a wealth of information for us. She reports that all the links on the left column still work.

Linda Roberts' blog is something really sweet that she recommended to me. There are all kinds of inspiring advent doodles... you just may want to check in daily because she has one for each day of Advent! That's today's above.

Adevent Devotionals for paper lovers

If you prefer non-electronic reading, Amy G. also recommends:

a non-Kindle book of devotionals: Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas by various authors

Advent Devotionals for Kindlers

Anyone who has a Kindle, have a look:


Maybe you need a book of Advent devotionals? some quick Kindle downloads:
Celebrating Christmas with Jesus by Max Lucado
God is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Thanks to my well-read, well-connected friend Amy G for these!

What is ordinary becomes extrordinary

We've all had THOSE moments. The mundane very suddenly become the amazing? The every-day is quickly the out-of-this world? It never fails as a blessing-count reminder!

Yesterday the boys missed the bus. Ho-hum. Into the car with much bickering, much fuss and a non-stop commentary from the eldest on how he was going to miss his make-up test he was supposed to be taking. At. This. Very. Moment.

Cruising up to the only major intersection in town, I am rather annoyed to be out in my car with my loud, malcontent children when I am supposed to be at home in my quiet, warm house working on my ongoing desk issues. I ponder the irony of my mantra that one main reason I don't put them on the bus all that much is that I enjoy the extra time with them in the car before and after school.

And then I missed the light.

Which is when the blessing began.

Before me is one glorious sunrise. The kind of day-launch that can only be described as purple. And at that moment, from the cemetery just south of the intersection, a hundred thousand swallows took wing, all but covering the sliver of sun just peeking up over the trees.

And incredibly--oh God, how do you do it?-- the all-strings version of "O' Come All Ye Faithful" is on the radio and starting to swell at the Rejoice! Rejoice! E-man-an-uel portion and like sudden angels, the boys are as breathless as I, really in total awe of the scene God has painted across the sky.

Wow. Just WOW!

The drive to school and the daily blog post, all salvaged at one merciful red light.


(Wish I could say I took this picture. But if I'd had my camera with me yesterday, I promise, with the exception of the lake, this is exactly what we saw!!!)

The deep waters direct us....

The most ministering things are real things.

My mother had a gift where she never worried, laughed at the devil, prayed for us when we were sick, gave every substance she had to her grandkids and delighted in it.

She told me when I was little and would whine to 'dry it up, you'll have enough in life to cry over later' and dang it, she was right.

It's the deep waters in life that direct us, all the surface stuff we should glean joy, blessings and lessons from and go on with it. I sure miss her and she would love sitting on this porch bossing everyone around (especially to my husband Freddie: 'get me some tea!') and laughing.

She always told us (her two kids) and the grandkids, you need to keep up with me, I'm not going to keep up with you. The grocery store had to call her over the intercom to come get my daughter Sarah one day when she was little because her 'grandmother lost her.'

Mama said, 'She lost me....Sarah I told you to watch me.'

Cherish it while you have it.

It's all life. I love it.

-- Terri Abbott