I know Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I am thankful for a lot of things. And I can celebrate Thanksgiving with tinsel and boxwood and glitter and twinkle lights and nativities.  Just because I am setting my sights on all manner of holiday decor doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten Thanksgiving!  Today I have some Musings to share with you about the Season.

 I love Christmas.  I love having my house all blinged out to the hilt for 4 to 5 weeks.  I love  the glitter, the trees, the nativities, the candlelight, the food, the family gatherings, the twinkle lights.

I love the story of the Baby in the manger.  What a wonderful way to send Salvation to humanity – in the Precious Package of a Tiny Baby.

I can even enjoy the hustle and bustle of preparing for the season – as long as that hustle and bustle stays in perspective and doesn’t become overwhelming.  Strolling the streets, stowing parcels in the car, envisioning delighted faces on Christmas morning as they pull treats from their stockings.  Finding the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for person on your list.  Laughing with my husband as we check off the gifts we are shopping for and head to the coffee shop for a hot drink to warm us up.

Telling the Christmas story to rapt faces – (it actually is more like hurry-up-and-get-this-done-so-we-can-open-presents but I can dream!)

Lately I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Juggling all the things I am supposed to do with all the things I want to do and running a business properly besides can be a challenge of enormous proportions.  And I’ve spread myself a bit too thin.  I tend to think I can do it all even though I’ve proved time and time again that I cannot do it all.  Still I try.  And it catches up with me.

As I was beginning to decorate my house for Christmas I found myself becoming more and more dissatisfied with everything I did and all the stuff I had.  Instead of enjoying it I was being too critical.  I was trying to see it through the eyes of my friends, the eyes of other bloggers and wonder if it would measure up.  Would anyone like it well enough to feature it if I linked it up somewhere?  Would it ever be magazine worthy?  And on and on until I stopped – sat myself down – and gave myself a stern talking to.  This was supposed be FUN!  I love doing this!  It’s not supposed to be stressful.

And so I decorated like I always do – for myself and my family.  I tweaked it till I liked it.  I added stuff if I thought it needed it.  Changed stuff up if I looked at it for awhile and decided it needed something different.

I hired a sweet gal to come help with the cleaning this year too, and that helped a bunch.  Many times I put up the Christmas decorations without really cleaning as thoroughly as I should because I simply don’t have time.  Feels so good to have it clean as I’m plunking all manner of glitz and glam everywhere!

I spent a couple hours giving our church building some greenery and ribbon to make it look festive.  Tomorrow I have another dress fitting for the wedding dress I am working on.  Thursday I get to go to my Mom and Dad’s for the day.  Friday I’m decorating a friends house.  I plan to decorate another friends house next week and help a friend with a painting project.  And work on the wedding dress.  And start thinking about Christmas shopping.

I hope to make some cookies with the girls this year.  I always want to and somehow it seems like that is one thing that gets pushed off the list pretty easily.

When I was a child my family would always go out driving to see the Christmas lights.  I’d like to do that with my kids sometime this season too.

I hope all of you take time to truly enjoy this wonderful season!  Take a walk if you love the cold weather, sit down for an extra cup of coffee and add some whipped cream and chocolate chips to it.  Call a friend or family member you haven’t talked to for awhile.  Give yourself the option of NOT doing Christmas cards this year.  Build a snowman if it snows (if you like the cold).  And remember the reason we celebrate!

Baby Jesus came to this cold, dark world to bring warmth and light to every heart that will let Him in!

Photos are from a photoshoot I helped a friend set up for.  It was on my youngest, Becca’s, birthday.  I took her along to get some pics of her.  Photos of my Christmas decor will be coming soon 🙂

Jill