Christmas Spirit

Whew! Can I just say it has been an exhausting couple of weeks?

Christmas is a wonderful time of year and I honestly love it! Just ask those who know me well. My house is filled with Christmas decor and I love every little piece of it. It's festive! It's fun! It's a bit frivolous, but that's okay. For some reason it makes me smile. Oh, but I'm getting sidetracked......Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but it is busier than much of the remainder of the calendar. My pace was good this year. I was moving along quite nicely, getting the decor in place, purchasing gifts, getting them wrapped, finding time for extras like concerts and a few parties, then I got sick.

I had no choice, but to put the brakes on for a couple of days and succumb to the virus....fever, sinus crude, headache, etc.....you are familiar with the scene. After the toughest couple of days I tried to slowly resume the duties. It was tough. I still didn't feel well, and quite frankly 9 days into this "thing" it is reluctant to let go.

Adding to a full schedule we headed out of town this weekend. We drove about an hour and stopped to help my husband's parents with a couple of things they needed done. Our destination, though, was to attend my daughter's college graduation. The commencement was late Saturday afternoon, but we went a day early because she had an honors ceremony bright and early in the morning. It was wonderful to share the occasion with her and two of her siblings. The whole family came back on Saturday evening to greet our youngest, who was arriving home from his study abroad in Japan. We stayed up late sharing in his adventures, taking a look at all his souvenirs and hearing him play his newly purchased instrument, the Japanese shamisen. I wanted to be in the midst of my family, laughing, talking, teasing.....but there was a part of me that was desperately longing for my bed and pillow. Weariness was consuming me.

Finally, I crawled into my big bed. It was a glorious feeling! Settling into the pillow, I told my husband that I wished the world didn't exist and that I could just lay in my bed all morning. I then corrected myself by saying. It isn't that I wish the world didn't exist, I just wish I didn't have to interface with it or anyone in it.

How's that for the Christmas spirit? I am not very proud of that statement, although it was extremely honest in the moment. I really hope it was fatigue and left over flu symptoms talking. What does it take to be fully engaged with those around me no matter how I am feeling? How do I exemplify the One who came from heaven to fully engage all of mankind, including me? That is the spirit of Christmas by which I desire to live, though I do so insufficiently.