What Happened to Christmas???

My question today is What happened to Christmas?? It seemed that one day it was Thanksgiving, I went to bed, got up the next morning and it was Christmas Eve!! That's right! My granddaughter from Washington, DC. arrived Thursday and the season began. I continued to wrap gifts until the wee hours of Christmas Eve/Morning. On Friday, my older daughter and grandson arrived (my son-in-law was homebound with flu!); My youngest daughter and her husband and 2 children also came on Christmas Day. We had a small Christmas Tree for those present since it was Christmas after all. Then Saturday morning, my oldest granddaughter and great-granddaughter arrived (my grandson-in-law was also homebound with the flu), then my younger son, wife and newest granddaughter arrived. We enjoyed Christmas the day after Christmas; they all spent the night Sat. night; we played games and watched a movie until midnight. Sunday morning, the exit began and continued until 7:30PM. How quiet it has been since then!! I love having them here and I miss them already! But, in less than 12 months, we will do it all over again... I'm going to start getting ready now so I won't be wrapping, wrapping on Christmas Eve. I want to sit, relax and not question again, what happened to Christmas?

Time to Get Serious!

We arrived home from Williamsburg aroud 5 today and, thankfully, we had a safe trip. Traffic was extremely heavy on the interstates and everyone was in a hurry. Now that I am home I believe I drove too fast too, even though I drove the speed limit (90% of the time), I feel that I was going too fast for the number of vehicles on the road. Sometimes, I believe we have to drive faster than is feasible just to keep from getting run over. We saw no accidents, but we did see many highway patrol.

Now that this trip is over, it is time for me to really get serious about Christmas. I have to take inventory of all the gifts that I have bought, for whom I have bought them, and determine who I have to buy for now. I also need to start wrapping what I have already purchased. I am jealous of my sister who has bought almost all of her gifts and, to top it all off, she has wrapped them all!!!!!! How does she do that I wonder. I know she has plenty of people to buy for too. Perhaps she is more organized than I; perhaps she knows exactly what to buy each person whereas I study what I want to get for everyone. Well, I'm glad she can do it. Now, it's time for me to get with the program!

In Wintry Williamsburg

Christmas has arrived in Williamsburg, VA! Last night was the official Illumination Ceremony so now everything is lighted and beautiful. Maybe I can get some photos before the end of the week; right now, there are so many people here that there is no way that I can get a good shot. Yesterday, we toured around the area, rode through the park, went through only 1/4 of the huge antique mall at Lightfoot. It is supposed to be rainy tomorrow so we decided to save the indoor stuff until then. Today, we will try to do the shops in Colonial Williamsburg unless the crowd is still too big; then, we will wait until Thursday to do those. This is definitely the best time to be in Williamsburg to enjoy the Christmas season. It is truly a big deal here!

Slow Down! Let Go and Let God

That's what I keep telling myself these days. Thanksgiving is barely over and Christmas is coming toward us full speed! I cannot seem to get ready for that day. With 3 additional family members, I am getting stressed out. Now, I am not complaining about that, believe me; I am thrilled to have each and every one o them and pray that we will all be together to share Christmas for many years to come. What's stessing me is the fact that I have too much to do to get ready; in other words, I have taken on too much responsibilities here at this season and I need to slow down. With the church choir's cantata, including the children, parties, other planning committees on which I serve and which are meeting before Christmas, I hardly know which to do first, etc. I just need to slow down, take a deep breath, and turn it all over to the Lord. I can do that so I will stop fretting. If you are in the same situation as I, and I am sure that you are, try to do the same: slow down, let go, and let God.