Christmas Spirit? Anyone?

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I think I'm finally officially in the "Christmas Spirit."

I feel bad though, because up until now I was too stressed to really get excited about what Christmas is supposed to actually be about.

I feel horrible that it wasn't until all my gifts were purchased, wrapped, and under the tree that I could allow myself to see Jesus in this season.

This morning before I got up I gazed out the large window above our bed at the beautiful sky and the trees and fields and it made me think about Mary.

How she might have felt this day all those years ago.

Was she stressed? Was she worried about the days to come? Did she inwardly complain about the task at hand and wonder why God had chosen her? When she realized that she wouldn't be having her baby in comfort because there wasn't room for them to stay anywhere in town, did she worry that maybe she was in over her head with what God was asking of her?

Or was she calm, trusting in the Lord to supply her every need as she prepared to give birth and raise God's Son? They ended up in a barn. She gave birth to her baby next to dirty farm animals and laid Him in hay where cows and sheep fed. Did she worry then? Did she then question God's plan?

If Mary can go through all that and trust in the Lord, then I can certainly go through the holidays and simply praise Him for all He's done for me without worrying.

God is good. All the time. His goodness does not change depending on how convenient our circumstances seem to us at any given moment.

He was good and faithful to Mary while she was giving birth to the Son of God in a barn. And He will be good and faithful to all of us no matter our circumstances, too.

I pray that you find (MAKE) time to thank Him for His goodness this weekend. He is certainly deserving of all our praise. All the time.

procrastination at its finest

I'm a procrastinator. Do you like how I say that as if you guys couldn't already tell that just from how amazingly well kept my blog is? Ha!

Anyway, yeah, I put stuff off. Semi-important stuff... like ordering gifts online in time.

I'm awesome at ordering stuff off the internet (I mean, I do have my debit card number memorized) but I'm not awesome at taking note that just because I order it at night doesn't mean it will be there the next day in the mail.

We had decided to get the boys new Bibles for Christmas. I went to a couple of different places to look at them but they weren't on sale so I decided to look online. Last night. I found exactly what I wanted so I quickly ordered them and was happy to be done with it.

...until I read the email they sent me after I had already placed my order and paid.

"Expected arrival date will be between December 18th and December 28th."

Uh... oops.

Also? I ordered our Christmas cards online this morning.

I knew that since we haven't done it before now there was NO way we'd have time to dress all cute and pretend to be all happy as we pose for the perfect Christmas card picture (and lets be honest, nothing can top last year's "Ugly Christmas Sweater" edition) so... I just used our pumpkin patch picture.

Is that bad?

I guess if there's anyone who would use a pumpkin patch picture as their Christmas card, it would be us. So, there you have it.

Hopefully my procrastination will make you feel better about your own Christmas progress. How's it all going for you?

"I might have" Monday

I might have turned 30 last week. (Still in shock.)

I might have let the kids put all the ornaments on the tree last night and told them "great job!" only to take them all off and put them on in a more "balanced" fashion after they went to bed. Yeah, I might be that type-A.

I might have started Weight Watchers online this morning... Immediately after filling out all the "paperwork" etc. I might have fallen out of my chair when they calculated my "goal weight" at 129. I'm pretty sure I'd have a heart attack if I ever stepped on a scale and saw that number, which would sort of defeat the whole purpose, wouldn't it?

After I took the kids to the bus stop and came home to see that Jeff had already left for work, I might have  looked around at the aftermath of our fantastically fun weekend (aka: dirty-as-all-get-out house) and sat down at the computer to do anything but clean check my email and hop on Face Book for a hour and a half few minutes instead of cleaning... (That's why we have the 4:30 hustle, right? - Or am I the only one who does that?)

I might have worked out this morning for the first time in months - and even though it was "only" a half hour - it might have  felt like eternity HOURS to this out of shape Mama.

Happy "might have" Monday, everyone! Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

This picture just kills me. Zach took our Christmas picture (ugly Christmas sweater edition) and then the kids wanted a pic with him - what a good sport.

(Please disregard the previous two sentences so this can technically still be a "wordless" post.)