It’s easy to start strong. Buying a new “system” or reading all the rules of the system is very exciting. I love new stuff and new concepts and new starts. I’m the best initiator EVUH! But I am easily distracted and kindof lazy.

One of my serious downfalls is my love for mugs. I really like mugs. I like choosing which mug I’ll be using each morning.

Pretty Purple Mug from my MIL

Christmas Mug w/bagels

Oh! My HEARTS mug! I love this one. Also from my MIL.

Unlimited Blessings Mug- it says "Grateful for Simple Blessings"

Scott's military jet mug and my BEAUTIFUL lilacs mug...ahhhh

I would even like to have MORE mugs but my cupboard space is finite. I can’t just have only mugs in the cupboard. Right now I couldn’t fit a single additional mug in that cupboard. Well, if I got rid of my husband’s three mugs I could possibly fit in more … There is my problem. I don’t want to get rid of the old before bringing in the new. Thus, my home is cluttered with things that don’t have a home or got crowded out of their home or are waiting for the next exciting organizational item to be dealt with. Is this how hoarding begins?! Oh, my stars!

My obstacles begin with how I spend my time. It’s not that I don’t have time to de-clutter. It’s that I haven’t yet chosen to do so. I’m a bit of a dreamer. I’d rather be blogging or Facebooking or writing new talks or having coffee with a friend or editing photographs. If you tell me I have to do something by a certain time or on a certain day, I will wait until the very last minute to comply. (I HAVE matured in this area. When I was a young woman I just didn’t comply at all much of the time.) I have never been very disciplined.

By working full time for so long, I did learn many administrative skills that get me through project deadlines and undesirable tasks. I do always accomplish my tasks. I just have to keep talking myself into it.

So de-cluttering is on my mind again.

I enjoyed these tips for de-cluttering for a more simple, restful life:

Step one:  Make room for the new. Remove old clothing, shoes, books, MUGS before bringing home new ones.
Step two:  Clearly define what is most important to you this year. Give it measure and descriptive detail. Be specific and then base your decisions this year on what your priorities are.
Step three: Learn to use The Golden Phrase. Each time you say “yes” to something new, you must say “no” to something you’re already doing.
Step Four: Create an environment that makes success convenient. This one really speaks to my cluttered mind. It’s really all about convenience. It’s why I have piles. Because it’s not convenient to find a home for the things in the piles. Why not make success convenient?

Would love to hear from fellow cluttered minds. I’m going to give this another go.

But this year my mind was swirling about how to honor the birth of my Savior rather than gifts and events and re-creating the magic. I was especially moved by the theme our pastor and staff chose for Advent this season … The Advent Conspiracy. It’s main message is that Christmas changed the world and it is still changing the world. I’ve been pondering that for weeks. Christmas changed ME. Even since LAST Christmas.

In years past my expectations of Christmas always left me disappointed and wondering what I hadn’t done to feel the magic. This year, with my thoughts on the impact of Christ’s birth in my little life, I journeyed through Advent season very differently. My heart overflowed with gratefulness for what He made possible.

Hearing the old, old story read and sung and seeing it acted out gave me a sense of being enfolded, encapsulated in the presence of God. I felt very small … I felt the smallness of being part of the Ages. Sometimes I got lost in the passage of time, almost like a timeline flashing along over the centuries like time-lapsed photography. God’s presence moving and hovering over the earth. It made me very aware that God is hovering right over me, right in my window of the timeline, just as He has since the beginning of time. His presence seemed more dense, more tangible, more active.

A friend’s little one said this about God on Facebook recently and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.
“There was a bunch of sunshine coming into one of our bedrooms and she told me to come look. ‘It’s so shiny!! It looks like God is in here!!’”

That is exactly how I’ve been feeling about Christmas … more aware than I’ve ever been of the very real, gentle, palpable presence of the Living God. It’s like it’s been streaming in through the window and I have basked in its warmth.

Bask means to lie in or be exposed to a pleasant warmth. I can’t bask if I’m not exposed. There is risk in being exposed but we can risk exposure if we completely trust that Jesus always has our good in mind. Trusting leads to basking.

Okay … I just slapped myself a little to come back to reality. My Advent season wasn’t just a weird spiritual “experience”. All that “presence” flowed out onto others. (Some got shiny.) I wasn’t concerned this year about trying to make everyone around me feel just like I did. I sat back and let God do what He was going to do in others and didn’t interfere or manipulate. I basked. Others were grumpy … I basked. Others complained about the money they were spending … I basked. Others drove like maniacs in Christmas traffic and in Wal-Mart aisles … I basked. Others overspent on breakable, consumable, indulgent gifts… I basked in the warmth of encouraging character and relationships and conversation. Thanks, Pastor Darrel and staff, for pointing us to the Light of Christmas.

Remember that scene in The Nativity movie where the shepherds and wise men find the place where the Christ child lay? How did the movie show they found it? The stars aligned and shone a great light … almost a beam of light … right into that stable cave. When I saw that scene again this week, it made me think of my friend’s little one and her innocent comment about God being shiny. And I watched Mary in the movie say to the old shepherd, “He is for all mankind.” Indeed.

The Nativity (Credit: ©2006 Jaimie Trueblood/New Line Productions)

The Ages … all mankind … me … you. Christmas still changes the world.

There has always been a spirit of generosity, too, with gifts and food and money given to those who need it. But this year that part of Christmas has been brought forward. There is a heightened sense of the need to relate to each other on a more meaningful level, a craving for the simple joys, a looking less at ourselves and more at where we can truly make a difference.

I have to admit that I have never pondered Christmas more than I have this year.

In my little family I have a reputation for being a sap. I have tried some different ways of doing these types of things but they have usually met with knowing glances and avoiding eye contact and barely-covered heavy sighs. Ahh, my quality time love language recoils at these responses but you can’t teach a pig to sing. So this year I won’t be overdoing the sappy stuff. I do plan to give meaningful gifts but I won’t be overdoing the commentary that could go along with them. I will let them speak for themselves.

But I don’t have to let the preferences of others change the meaning I find in Christmas. My own personal Christmas … my own personal meaning. As I’ve been decorating the house and listening to Christmas music and pondering the bigness and smallness of his birth, Jesus has whispered His sweet reminders that:

… He made me sappy on purpose and it finds its sweet spot every once in a while.
… In this season of my life I’m not responsible for making Christmas meaningful to anyone else. I am only responsible for living out the meaning I find in it.

There are some physical “things”, though, that are meaningful to me at Christmas. I have several boxes of Christmas stuff but, since our nest became empty several years ago, now I only pull out the REALLY meaningful things.

Here are some of them:

I love mornings ... I love mugs ... I love bagels

Kitchen towels given as a wedding gift to us by my high school best friend, Liz Miller's, mother Jane Miller. I've kept them all these years.

A special Christmas globe ... I think the kids gave this to me. And the hand-made doily given to me by my mother-in-law years ago. I can't remember if she made it or if her mother made it. I cherish it.

My favorite Christmas CD

Familiar JOY and NOEL on the hearth again this year but have added the block letters item from Blessings Unlimited. I love seeing Christ in Christmas in a visual way.

A new set of special ornaments from Blessings Unlimited. There is a set of three ... Joy to the World ... Peace on Earth ... Hope for the Nations

Handmade ornament commemorating our first Christmas; made by Scott's mother, Patty Wendt Troutman Bradford

Our first Christmas ornament as a married couple; given to us by our friends Phil & Debbie Heinrichs. They were married two months before us. We sang in their wedding.

Handmade ornament commemorating Adam's first Christmas. Made by Scott's mother, Patty Wendt Troutman Bradford. In keeping with the rocking horse ornaments she gave him every year at Christmas.

Ornament commemorating Abbey's first Christmas. Given by Scott's mother, Patty Wendt Troutman Bradford.

And candles. I love candlelight at Christmas.

If you are struggling this season, worried about not having enough money to give your family the Christmas they’re used to, take this as your opportunity to re-connect to a REAL Christmas. Who needs those toys that get broken or games that are beaten in a month or gadgets that are obsolete as soon as they’re opened? What our families truly need from us is less presents and more presence (Pastor Darrel Wiseman).

How might that look in your family? Popcorn garlands? Singing Christmas carols together or even caroling around the neighborhood? Sharing a favorite meal? Looking at family photo albums? Reading Christmas books and stories together? Attending free community events? Building a snowman? Baking goodies and sharing with neighbors? Going sledding? Hand-made cards? Letters of respect and love in a frame?

There are times you’re meant to receive instead of give.

If you’re not struggling this season, find someone who is and do something about it. Hear Jesus whisper His purposes to you.

Here are some ideas:

Heifer International

World Vision Christmas Catalog

12 Gifts of Christmas

Capture and enjoy each Christmas moment. Celebrate His birth.
After all, Christmas changed the world.

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great JOY for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10<a

p.s. Don’t you just love how WordPress makes it snow in December?! You can hear the silence of snow or the jingle of sleigh bells!

My Whine List
~ 2nd week of November was the busiest week on record for me. I seriously overbooked myself.
~ Parents surprise visit from South Dakota
~ My dear father-in-law took a serious turn for the worse in Arizona and Scott flew down for ten days, which included being apart Thanksgiving and on our 34th wedding anniversary.
~ Took on a new bookkeeping client
~ Sister and family surprise visit from Washington State … and brought DOG
You may not know that I am not a dog lover. I don’t hate dogs but I don’t like them either. And we have a cat only because my husband is a cat worshipper. Now even though Sadie, the dog, only stayed one short night at our house before she was taken to her safe haven at my aunt’s house, in that short time she drank all the cat’s water and practically emptied the toilet of water, threw up in the living room and left an odoriferous gift in my bedroom … right beside my side of the bed.
~ Thanksgiving at my house suddenly became huge. Grandma always breezed through big holiday gatherings.

My “victory” was that I didn’t blow up at anyone during Thanksgiving week. (I had blown up the previous week but that’s another post) But this soon became a hollow victory. I had just commented on Facebook about how “not divorcing” is not enough. How it isn’t necessarily noble just to stay married if you haven’t enjoyed the journey together and accomplished the purposes God intended the two of you to fulfill.

Suddenly I saw the parallel between the two things … just like not divorcing wasn’t enough, not blowing up wasn’t enough.

Just gritting my teeth and willing my mouth to stay closed wasn’t a fragrant offering that pleased the Lord. No words may have come out but they were there on the inside. My attitude was in selfish, poor me mode.

What a contrast to this verse …
… love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. I Corinthians 13:5

I had done it all in the last two weeks. I had been rude, self-seeking, easily angered and I have kept record of wrongs.

What in the world?! It was time to step back and get some perspective.

Yes … there were several big stresses piling up at the same time. I acknowlege that. No one was expecting perfection of me. But what had I missed by allowing my attitude to get the better of me? Where was my eucharisteo living?

I had let the urgent and mundane become more important than people and the opportunity to express love and thankfulness.

I had so many things to be thankful for …
~ At the insistence of my family, on my anniversary, we all went to Krispy Creme for breakfast and had Mongolian food for lunch. The Lord KNOWS how I love donuts and Mongolian food. And to have them both in the same day was just too much to overlook.
~ I “had coffee” one morning at the kitchen table with my nieces and nephew before their parents woke up and found out some wonderful things about who they are. Well, I had coffee and they had peppermint hot chocolate.
~ My dad and brothers-in-law stepped in for Scott every time I needed a man to do something.
~ Many hands made light work.
~ We saw Happy Feet 2!
~ I helped my parents with some of their technology problems and also helped them “shop local” on Black Friday.
~ I was not alone; I was surrounded by a loving family.

And, yes, there are also true issues that I am now processing. My strong reactions were indeed a symptom of a deeper need. But this stressful time was not a spiritual attack. I wasn’t doing spiritual battle this time. It was a stacking up of circumstances that I let overwhelm me.

by Blessings Unlimited

Saw this on Facebook … It is not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy.

I’m letting all this sit for a while. What say you? How was your Thanksgiving?

Worship today was especially comforting. Worshipping with the saints is always especially comforting to me. This song gripped me …

Another Day

In the  minutes of the day, there is barely time to see where I’m walking

Snap decisions come and go, who I am will overthrow

Who I want to be

So I count on You to change every piece of who I am

That would bury me

You refurbish me to see how Your kingdom’s meant to be …

… for another day

Chorus

Oh, it’s another day, in the walking; it’s another day, learning to love

It’s another day, together, dwelling in the land, in the land.

Walk together, not alone; love will cover and atone;

There’s so much to learn

It’s in the journey, day to day; you have chosen to relay

Who you are to me

So, you see, the secret’s out; for true life to come about

It takes a step of faith

to believe that God can be who He says that He can be …

… is a trusting thing

Chorus

Oh, it’s another day, in the walking; it’s another day, learning to love

It’s another day, together, dwelling in the land, in the land.

This song says to me that every single day matters and piles up on the day before and the day before that, and the days keep piling up and pretty soon you are the result of all your days. What I do today, who I am today affects tomorrow and who I am tomorrow.

Our dear loved one has walked many days and will soon get to stop walking. My today is a sad one. But it’s one day along the  journey and becomes part of who I am for tomorrow.

My trusting thing is remembering that these days are all part of the journey, of me dwelling in the land. My benevolent King journeys with me.