Celebrate!

Have you ever planned a full-blown celebration?

My wedding was the biggest party I've ever planned and oh my goodness did that require a lot of preparation!  Some of the planning was so much fun as we picked out invitations and registered for gifts. Other jobs were more tedious but even monotonous work like assembling programs didn't seem quite as bad when I remembered what I was preparing for.

It was going to be a celebration of a lifetime and with that attitude even the busyness was fun.

In recent years as my responsibilities for Christmas preparation have multiplied, I find it nearly impossible to get to the point of having time to remember that this is all about the birth of Jesus, Savior.  As much as I want to eliminate the stress, busyness, and unfocused craziness, there are some traditions I'm simply not ready to let go and often my attitude goes down with it.

So this year I'm wondering if maybe I need to work with the flow of life rather than wasting so much thought on trying to fight it.  I need to find another way to get to the peace and joy and meditation on what it means that Jesus was born into this messed up world.  And so this year I hope to continue to work on minimizing and not adding too much to my lists, but in the middle of it all while I'm wrapping and baking and adventing and I hope to remember the CELEBRATION.

My responsible self often chants "Get your work done first and then play," but in recent years I never get around to this playing - or celebrating.  And so this year the preparation is going to be part of the celebration.

After all there is nothing more worthy of celebrating than Christmas.  The birth of Jesus represents God's promise fulfilled. When He arrived in the world God affirmed that all He has promised is true.  He does have a plan to save the world and that hope deserves the biggest celebration ever!



 

A Halloween Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a beautiful Princess named Snow White.

Snow White lived with her impatient step mother who always hurried her along to get dressed, brush her hair, eat her food, and always to get her seat belt buckled.

A dwarf also lived in the house with Snow White.

Most days he vacillated between Happy, Grumpy, Doc (the one in charge!), but this day he was Sneezy. Complete with runny nose and droopy eyes. Snow White loved her dwarf and the mother couldn't imagine another six dwarfs running around the cottage so they enjoyed the seven personalities of this one dwarf. The dwarf gave Snow White someone to mother. She took off his shoes and coat when he arrived home, brought him his blanket when he turned grumpy, and generally hovered over him ready to meet his every need.  If he did not have a current need, Snow White took away a toy or gave him a big squeeze until the dwarf screeched with a new problem.  Yes, Snow White and the Dwarf lived happily together on most days.

Then one day a handsome prince ninja decided to come play at the cottage.

He wanted Snow White's attention but was not prepared to love on the dwarf as Snow White did.  A charming ninja he was and simply with focused attention he easily enticed Snow White to join him for a time of building their own castles in the lower cottage. Without a backward glance at the Dwarf, Snow White followed the ninja with dreamy eyes and proclamations that she would help the ninja in any way he asked.

After their fortresses were secure, the ninja decided they needed to validate the strength of their walls.  For this he remembered the dwarf. Luring the dwarf near the fortress proved to be no challenge when he turned his charming attention towards the dwarf with a sweet voice and the promise of a ball.

The moment the dwarf arrived in the lower cottage, the ninja's charming facade disappeared and he dashed away behind the fortresses walls. Snow White appeared and the dwarf once again felt safe remembering the fun the two of them shared.

As in all true fairy tales, the story suddenly turned ugly.  From under her beautiful dress, Snow White pulled out a light saber and proceeded to attack the surprised dwarf with bonks and jabs. The impatient mother bounded down to the lower cottage and rescued the dwarf with kisses and admonishments of the ninja and Snow White. 

She reminded them of the prospect of trick-or-treating and everyone quickly reconciled. The dwarf agreed to wear his hat and everyone lived happily ever after, ringing door bells, gathering Reese's Peanut Butter cups, and ending the evening by watching It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. 

Yes, all fairy tales do have a happy ending.