celebrating in my own way

I am still determined.
Actually… I accomplished a lot yesterday and that made me really happy.
I haven’t wrapped and I haven’t finished decorating the tree and I haven’t made the first Christmas-y thing to eat and it’s all ok.
I’ll wrap what has to be wrapped tonight or tomorrow morning and make a crazy dash to the Walmart for whatever munchies and treats we need to eat… either tonight or early tomorrow…
And we’ll be at Jim and Angie’s by eleven to celebrate with the fam. And at church tomorrow night and wherever our family is gathering on Christmas day and we’ll have done whatever is done and whatever is not done won’t matter.
I will not be stressed, only blessed.
I love traditions but every Christmas is unique in the things that don’t happen the way you planned or hoped or expected… and every Christmas is still wonderful in its own way.
I seriously refuse to stress or rush or fret over the fact that I didn’t have a 9 foot Leyland cypress cut down at our favorite Christmas tree farm complete with hay ride and hot cider. Or that I didn’t spend hours addressing Christmas cards. Or that there’s no fudge or Russian tea mix or… sausage balls…
Resources have been limited… time… energy… money…
I’m celebrating pushing myself enough to work these two days and still function enough to do anything else.
I’m celebrating God’s amazing blessings in my life over the past week… how He provides above and beyond what I expect or deserve.
I’m celebrating being with people I love and I’m even celebrating loving people I can’t be with… I would much rather have a life full of wonderful friends and family – even if I can’t spend as much time with them all as I would like – than be alone and lonely.
I’m celebrating release from bondage, freedom from captivity, victory over evil…
All that sort of stuff.
I had a year that was physically trying but emotionally freeing.
For everything I’ve lost, God has given me something better.
For every tear I’ve shed in sadness, I’ve shared five more in joy or relief.
A long time ago there was a baby in a manger who changed the world.
I’m just a girl in a duplex in Cleveland, Georgia trying to make my own little impact on my own little corner of the world.
Appreciating what is without mourning what isn’t.
Merry Christmas, y’all.