I'm dreaming of a peaceful, orderly Christmas. Well, I can dream can't I?Why do I always seem to have chaos and mess instead - lost gifts in great hiding places, groceries not yet purchased, money doesn't quite go far enough and who has time to pay those bills anyway?
There have been so many years when Christmas coincided with crazy stuff happening.
- One year I was remodeling a kitchen when the cabinet maker went out of business mid-job, leaving us with a real pain - in December and having to finish the job ourselves. I nearly lost it that year with no kitchen for Christmas and a major construction zone.
- Before that, when Justin was just one year old, he was ill at Christmastime and ended up in the hospital with meningitis after a close call with death and a doctor on the other end of the phone who was busy with his own Christmas chaos, not listening to my concern. Fortunately the Spirit directed me to take him to the hospital anyway and the ER docs said he would have been dead by morning, had we taken the on-call pediatrician's advice. That year the tree stayed up until February I think. We were juggling two other children and driving back and forth to Primary Children's Hospital daily.
- Another year I was selling a house and quickly buying another which we then had to move into because our buyers were anxious and homeless - so the whole process happened with little notice but it did mean a quick take-down of tree! Again the Spirit helped me out and directed me to my current home which happened to be vacant and available. Blessings do come, even in the midst of chaos!
- Another year it was Nat selling and moving, the next year Jenn selling and moving - what is it about December/January and the moves? They say homes don't sell at this time of year - not my experience. It's not like it's fun to do this in the freezing cold weather and icy driveways...
- And now, four years almost to the day, it's Jenn and Fred moving AND building AND no kitchen at the new place. Aubrey's recovering from a recent C-section while going through a divorce, needing to find a job and move - you guessed it - by January 1. And Jon is in a world of hurt over being separated from his girls, also going through a divorce. Finances are stretched to the limit and emotional trauma has once again almost caused some of us to "lose it."(There are a few other stressful years I'll not detail here)
- I was reminded of another Christmas with a wedding right before it (Nat and Rob) and that reminded me that I missed a reception last night I had planned to attend. Totally spaced it off in the chaos.
- Tomorrow is a funeral and that reminded me of Grandma J's funeral just before Christmas, another one I attended on Christmas Eve a couple of years ago. This year it is for an incredible 16 year old boy who was claimed by cancer. He's spending Christmas in a better place, but it's so sad for his family.
Ken also reminded me that things were pretty chaotic that first Christmas when there was no room at the inn. Things didn't exactly go well for that young couple either. I don't mean to whine; just observing and reminiscing. I saw the chiropractor the other day and he said, "it's been a year since we saw you - December must be stressful for you." Duh...
How did you get your LR to magically look like this with your 2 red arm chairs? Now I wish...
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