I'll BE Home for Christmas. . .

Is anyone else exhausted from preparing for the holidays?  It can't just be me, right?  I know a lot of people have taken to shopping online to avoid the hassle of going out among other shoppers and traffic and for convenience.  This is the time of the year when we need to be reminded of how important people, and not things are to us.  I love going to the stores and talking to the clerks.  I think I drove "Mommy" crazy a few weeks ago because every store I went into, I came out knowing about the person who helped me.  Christmas should remind us that Christ came to save us.  People.  Not computers, not clothing, not jewelry . . . but us.

I know what it is like to pack up the family and go off to visit.  To cook and on rare occasions actually bake.  (Truly, I do not have a clue where my girls got their love for baking!  It is proof though that some things are not genetic).   I know what it is like to wrap presents for a family of seven children, then their spouses, and their children and of course special people in your life.  I know the love that goes into every activity and action.  It is love for those people.

I know what it is like to not have your child home for Christmas.  I don't care how many people fill your house, there is still an empty place in your heart.  So, I LOVE hearing from my family that they will be home for Christmas!  It doesn't matter that the chores increase exponentially with the announcement.   The joy that comes with the anticipation lifts you to an unearthly level and that joy and love gets you through it all.  My gang will all be home for Christmas.  My heart can barely take it!  Some will be here to celebrate "Mommy's" birthday right after Christmas too. 

Please, don't ever forget to put love into all you do.  Some day, your children will understand what you have accomplished.  It may take a while, and they may not know until they have the blessing of doing it too one day.  When they realize what it takes to be a mom at Christmas, you will just know.  It will show in what they do, in how they treat you and the love they share.  Then you will know, that all of the love and hard work that you put in has come back to you much greater.  You will watch them shop and talk to strangers and laugh as they select gifts and know that you have passed this on to them too.

May you all have a blessed and love filled Christmas.  Focus on people and what is really important.  Forget about trying to make things perfect.  God already did that, so make sure you enjoy the gift of his birth and the gifts he has blessed you with!  Merry Christmas!  Christ is Born !