Merry Christmas all! I am honored to have the opportunity to do some blogging with Jenny on her fantastic site. After having the privilege of knowing Jenny for almost twenty years, I was thrilled when she asked me to contribute. I look forward to sharing stories of my faith and learning many of your own as we muddle our way together through this precious gift of motherhood.
It’s 7:00 PM on Friday, December 21st. Today was supposed to
be a day of huge excitement. First there were those who assumed life as we knew
it would end today. Of course, as we all know, the world is still turning and
each of us is still blessed with the opportunity to continue enjoying life. With that established, it was time to begin
our regular morning. I quickly realized though that the rest
of our planned excitement was about to drastically change. Instead of getting
dressed to head to my daughter’s school for her class holiday party, I was
taking her temperature and trying to figure out the best way to get the
supplies, food, and crafts to the school with a daughter running a temperature
of 102 and looking thoroughly miserable.
Needless to say, my definition of excitement changed greatly.
By lunchtime it was official. My precious little one tested positive
for both flu and strep. It was not the way we intended to begin celebrating
Christmas.
Now, I’m sitting here with her head in my lap trying to figure out how
to rearrange all of our plans. You see, like most Moms, I am the ultimate
manager. I am the one who organizes everything for our family – the schedules,
the gifts, the travel arrangements, the food, and every other thing imaginable.
My planning schedule just got turned upside down.
As Moms, we work hard to ensure the holidays are as perfect for our
families as possible. Yes, we know the importance of togetherness instead of
things, and of flexibility instead of perfection. In fact, many of us encourage
those ideas every year at the exact same time we are stressing over making Christmas cookies, wrapping
presents, or putting in appearances at family get togethers. You see, we can focus
so hard on doing the right thing for our families for Christmas that we forget
to do the important thing.
Somewhere along the way, we forget the significance of making memories
and it’s those memories that will carry our children into the future. They
won’t always remember what they received for Christmas, whose Christmas present
was wrapped the best, or which cookie had the most beautiful design. Instead,
they will remember the year the turkey didn’t cook and Spam was served in its
place. They will remember the year the cat climbed up the Christmas tree. They
will remember the year the nametags were not filled out on the presents and they
played the game ‘match the gift to the person.’
My daughter will not get a chance to sing her solo on Christmas Eve.
She will not get to travel and visit with her cousins nor will she be able to
wear her new Christmas dress. Instead, because of the strep and the flu, many of our standard family traditions we have built a lifetime making with her will fall
to the wayside. So, Mom is throwing out the plan book. Instead, we are going to
have a quiet Christmas of three and spend our time making those unplanned memories she will
never forget.
Moms, in these last few days before Christmas, I encourage you to take
a little pause and see if you can find some time to create the little memories
with your family in addition to enjoying the beloved family traditions. Don’t
stress when they occur; instead, enjoy them. They
will be remembered!
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