Every Christmas season, the time seems to go by faster and faster. The weeks run out before I have time to spend enough evenings by the glow of the fire, hear the music of my friends and family laughing, and do all those projects I pinned on Pinterest. I did feed a lot of cute calves though...
While working on some Christmas projects, I was looking back through some of my post from throughout the past year. I stumbled upon this one from last Christmas and wanted to share it again.
Though I tell myself every year I will remember, the truth is I have to remind myself on a daily basis that the true meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with how much I got done or how perfectly decorated my house is (I had to add the barn to that list this year). As we approach the longest night of the year, it is my wish that the Hope, Love, Joy and Peace of Christmas will light up your heart in this season and always.
__________________________________________________
December 21, 2013
"I love Christmas time. Trees and lights, presents under the tree in a warm house. Hot chocolate by the fire with the ones I love. I must admit that I even use wrapping paper with glitter on it, much to my husbands displeasure. It's all just so cozy. The love that fills homes and families, the closeness of being together. How I wish I could pause the beauty of the Christmas season and let it linger just a bit longer.
But every morning I must leave the hot chocolate and presents behind. One step at a time my Muck boots carry me out the door. Out the door into the cold, into the stress, into the busy. Into a world of animals and people that don't recognize how much I have on my list to accomplish by December 25th.
But it's out this door that I find things that fill me with as much warmth as any Christmas lights ever could.
I find a happy cow, warm and dry.
I find a bucket of steaming, warm milk to feed calves.
Kisses.
A sleepy kitty.
A curious face.
Ice crystals in the dirt.
Perseverance.
Laughter.
Something that makes me stop in my tracks.
New concrete.
Constant companions.
A tolerant baby.
Christmas. I find Christmas.
There in the dark, in my dirty clothes, without having all my presents wrapped yet I remember how to enjoy Christmas.
So I gladly dust off the glitter, put on my boots, and take my hot chocolate to go.
After all...
"Away in the manger
No crib for his bed
The little Lord Jesus
Lay down His sweet head
The stars
In the bright sky
Look down where he lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay"
