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Celebrating well…while we wait <3

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Last night I was able to attend a beautiful event sponsored by the women’s ministry at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. 

You all know I am a “decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving” kind of girl, but oh… it gave me the fever for all things yuletide. 

Picture a room filled with tables all decorated creatively and lovingly with real life Pinterest holiday perfection and then gathering in the stillness of the sanctuary as a narrator walked us through the Advent wreath amidst the backdrop of a set right out of the best illustrated O Little Town of Bethlehem scene possible. 

We were asked to suspend the reality of being a group of women who had silenced our cell phones and all of our twenty-first century thoughts and were invited to pretend we were villagers hearing the joyous story of a young girl who had taken an extra cloak to her shepherd brother on a chilly evening that turned out to be the night that changed not only her, but everything. 

Forever. 

Oh, I hope I have transported you to the experience well enough for you to at least get a feel for not just me sharing an event I got to attend, but also I hope you are picking up on the tension we live in as we approach the Christmas holidays. 

We will be packing a lot of extras into already full schedules, just like we do every year at this time. 

We will face the urge to compare our preparations: not only with what we see, and or perceive (big difference) about how others are doing it all, but also our own reality versus what we hoped it would look like. 

We will be inundated with enticing visuals on television and social media.

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Holiday eye candy… as one of my dear friends calls all the shiny glitter that can make us giddy with anticipation and leave us empty with disappointment. 

We will try to balance this with the “reason for the season” and perhaps wear ourselves ragged making sure we attempt to juggle the fun of Santa with the importance of the Nativity…and all this to say…

I am checking out a new book to help me get this over thinking mind of mine into a more disciplined state before I drag out those tubs of decorations and launch into Christmas 2018. 

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So far it has proven to be a sane voice and I hope to share some tidbits gleaned.

One of the things mentioned during the gathering last night was how the women of the village loved and cared and watched out for each other. 

This holiday season, let’s do that … men and women…let’s not fill up our lives and calendars with so much of our own celebration that we neglect to care well for those around us who are struggling. 

Let’s be intentional to leave room for interruptions and the unexpected and uninvited. 

We are not watching for the Messiah to come…we are celebrating the time He came. 

We are watching for His return. 

Let’s watch out for each other as we wait <3

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2 Comments

  1. Enjoyed this post. It brought back sweet memories of my time as Women’s Ministry Director at my church in CA. I needed a little Christmas Spirit this morning. Kathi Lipp is a friend and colleague. I’ll look forward to reading what you share about her book. Have a blessed day.

    1. What a small world! I am in a group for writers/bloggers on Facebook and this was recommended. The first chapter was a powerful idea for my little narrow brain and will be sharing it tomorrow. I am so encouraged by this connection today!

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