Sideways Energy

It was my sincere desire to make this Christmas as low key and low stress as possible this year. Last year was Josh and Jameson's first Christmas here, and we felt this huge stress/desire to do everything "traditional" and to make up for all the Christmas' they have missed before. It was exhausting and stressful for them and for us.

This year, we decided to not go all out crazy with the decorations. Usually decorating the house for Christmas involves major furniture moving and several days of rearranging. But not this year!

For the first time since 1997, we got a real Christmas tree. I wanted to actually go to the forest (or Christmas tree farm) and use our saw to cut it down. (Think National Lampoon's Christmas vacation... "she'll see the tree when we get home Clark, her eyes are frozen shut")

Jeff coerced me into settling for a trip to the Community Farm near our house and picking out our very own, already cut down, ready to be packaged, very real tree.

We bungee corded that tree on the top of the family truckster and slowly made our way home without launching the tree into traffic.

The kids were at a level of excitement not generally brought on by trees and or landscape material.



We didn't get all the beautiful homemade ornaments the kids have made over the years at Sunday School. We didn't get out the boxes and boxes of Christmas balls. We made popcorn strings with glass beads. We tied on raffia bows and threw on a couple of strands of lights.

And it looks absolutely beautiful. The rest of the week we spent watching movies, hanging out and totally being lazy.

Really ... half of you would be so proud of me and the other half would be totally ashamed of me. What an unproductive little elf I've been this week.

But we have also focused on the real reason for Christmas. The awesome gift we have all been given in Christ.

As our pastor says it's easy to get distracted by all the sideways energy surrounding Christmas. The decorations. The parties. The gifts. The shopping. The food. We are determined this year to not be distracted by the sideways energy.

I am usually such a perfectionist about every holiday, every birthday, every little stinking thing we do. I am enjoying a freedom this year that I haven't had before. I see another week of laying in bed watching movies and reading because this year, we've got enough. We've done enough. We're focusing on our advent adventures and on the reason for the season.