Imperfect Christmas

I am the perfect example of why we need Christmas.
It's been one of those months when things I do come out just not quite right.

There's been nothing big. No glaring mistakes, just small ones that magnify my less than perfect status.

Because of that unfortunate status,  my house is not decorated as I would like. The gifts I made turned out just not quite right.  Our Christmas tree only has decorations on the bottom, and the stockings are lying on the fireplace rather than hanging.

I need grace.

When you come to my home, I need you to overlook the dirty floor.
When the kids open their knitted animals, I need them to not notice the crooked owl wing and twisted bird foot.

It's not that I haven't worked hard or put in the effort. 
I have.
And that is why I need grace, hope and assurance that me working my hardest to make it happen is not what I have to rely on.

I am thankful that I get to rely on the hope of Christmas. The birth of Jesus took away the need for me to strive for more and better good deeds. Instead I can depend on Him to look fully at my mistakes, forgive me, and love me completely.

Because of the real hope of Christmas, I can still have a fabulous Christmas while the stockings lie rather than hang, the tree is half decorated, and my projects are not complete.

All of these displays of imperfectness remind me of exactly why I need Christmas. The birth of a Savior to lift me out of this cycle of working hard and failing to meet expectations brought the greatest freedom to have peace even when everything I do is just not quite right.

It is because of the imperfect that I need Christmas.

Waste the day

I try not to waste.

I recycle.
Eat leftovers.
Shop at thrift stores.
Print on both sides of computer paper.
Carry my own shopping bags.
I even am currently using my brother's girlfriend's old phone (pathetic, I know).

I think wasting time must be the most difficult thing for me to watch go by. I bring magazines to read in line, knit at stoplights (shhh....). If there's a way to multi-task, I'm doing it.

December always reminds me of a deep desire to slow down. To enjoy the moment, because these Christmas times go so quick, and before I know it the celebration of the best GIFT ever will be come and gone and I might have missed it. So for these reasons, I wrote to encourage myself (and anyone else I can convince), to waste the day...

Go ahead, try it.