6 days til christmas

i am soooo excited, there are only 6 more days until christmas! most of the shopping is done, just a couple of more things for dear friends. we did not do any baking this year, which is really sad. last year, the kids and i made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and sugar cookies. it was so much fun, and it really put you in the christmas spirit- listening to holiday music with a fire on the hearth and the warm sweet smell of fresh baked treats wafting from the kitchen.

this year it has been a little difficult to get into a mood of holiday cheer. maybe it is because everything is topsy-turvy, with a new baby and more extended family on a regular basis, perhaps it is because thanksgiving wasn't the eagerly anticipated event it normally is, maybe the sense that things are changing, or maybe it is the fact that we are still experiencing weather in the 80's at the end of december, but whatever it is, it doesn't quite feel like christmas.

yet the restless anticipation swells within my being, and i know that it is all too true. there is something so pleasant about this time of year. we consider others more than ourselves, we are more aware of the plight of humanity, we surround ourselves with stories and songs that illuminate what is good in humanity, and we therefore strive to produce goodness in our own lives. life, we remember, is something to be celebrated, appreciated. we are once again rejuvenated whilst we live it.

love is a miracle. we get to participate in the miraculous. these disappointed feelings, in the end, are secondary to the movement. i don't need to swoon in my romanticism of the season. i can remember the ultimate miracle of love, that god would create a child to redeem our souls from utter damnation; i can be a part of this miracle by sharing in his love for those in my world. that is significant. it is enough.

i may not be able to do drastic things. i am not a philanthropist, a professional, a missionary, a doctor, a leader, or anything of prestige, but i can contribute to the world by caring about those who enter my world. one kind word, a listening ear, an unexpected hug or generous offer... these things do matter. they do not seem significant, but we cannot aptly quantify what god does or continues to do through the ordinary. everyone of us was created for greatness. god sees that which is done in the secret. he rewards us accordingly. let the light of the manger remind us that we can do great things, too. love is enough.