A bit of holiday perspective...

soooooooooo... I have to admit that life has been kind of crazy since returning from Disney. We got home around midnight last Monday, and the past week has been a blur of decorating for Christmas, uploading and ordering pictures, laundry, cleaning, playing with Ellie-Kate, helping Chelsea and Emmy with various tasks, prepping for Emmy's upcoming birthday party, organizing "stuff" for Girl Scouts and athletic boosters, and scrambling to buy a few Christmas presents. One of my friends noted that she could use two months between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I agree completely, especially when we go out of town for one or more of those holidays! I yearn for time to savor the season... to quietly listen to music and to reflect on the majesty of the season...

I did a bit of shopping yesterday, and I felt very rushed... until I instructed myself to relax and enjoy. Two years ago, we were putting final touches on the nursery and praying that we would be able to get to Ellie-Kate before Christmas... and then before her January birthday. (Of course, we ultimately held her for the first time on March 23.) I carefully picked items that might be acceptable in China, mailed them to her orphanage, and prayed that they would end up with her (and, perhaps, be sent home with her when we picked her up). We put up a tiny tree in her room that still sits on her dresser... I can't believe that it's been 24 months since that Christmastime... This year, Ellie-Kate is engrained in our family and its traditions, loving Santa and the tree and singing "jingle bells, jingle bells" non stop :) She adores the decorations, the shows, and the holiday season as much as we do. Praise God that we have her in our home now and that she's with us for this special Christmas.

It would be easy to yield to the pressures and stresses of the holiday season (i.e., things that we "must" do or experience and the frustration of never being able to do or have "it all"). However, we are blessed to HAVE this Christmas!! Before logging on tonight, I read of Elizabeth Edwards' death, and I feel so sad for her children, losing their mom right before Christmas. We're so blessed to have our health, our jobs, our lovely home, our resources, each other, and a loving, caring, wonderful Savior who was willing to come down to a crazy, distracted, frustrating world and to save us from our sins. For this Christmas, I am especially grateful to be alive, given that I survived living with a ruptured appendix for around 48 hours back in August. I am grateful that Ellie-Kate's breathing situation seems to be under control, given that she battled pneumonia and bronchitis back in October and November. I am so very grateful that we have jobs when others are losing their sources of income and that God continues to bless us beyond what we even recognize or appreciate.

Thank you, Lord, for being patient with me when I sometimes struggle to be patient with the children that you have entrusted to me. Thank you, Lord, for loving me even when I'm not particularly lovable. Thank you, Lord, for the most priceless treasures... the opportunity to raise Brittany, Chelsea Meagan, Emmy, and Ellie-Kate, to be married to an amazing man, and, most importantly, to have a relationship with an incredibly compassionate and loving Heavenly Father who gave His only Son as the most precious Christmas present ever. I pray that my focus remains on these blessings and not on the distractions as we celebrate the beauty of Christmas. Thanks, Father, for nudging me back in the right frame of mind for this special celebration of the season!!