Love in the Pandemonium

Here we are again, another rushing, rocking holiday season. I got out my pen and marked up the family calendar with upcoming activities. Ken has our markers colored-coded. Of course he does. Mine is purple, and now the wall looks like someone smashed grapes on it. Meanwhile, we have an active renovation going on in the nether regions of our house, so it looks like a bomb went off in here. I'm desperately trying to get the back fourth of the house painted, the tree decorated and everything put back into place before our company party (Southern Homes and Land) here next week. Nothing like pressure to stop the mojo. 

Tonight, as I muse over the day and laugh at all the plans that got shot to smithereens, I am sincerely focusing on what matters. One of my sons, Daniel, was working on that back bathroom, so we got to enjoy his warmth and irreverent humor. The guy could be a stand-up comic. His wife and darling daughter Maddie popped in, like a whirling dervish of fresh air. Then another son, Jon, joined us towards lunchtime, hauling in their infant twins Bennett and Addison, along with their dear Mama and non-stop delight Annabelle. The two four-year-old Energizer Bunnies never tired, and by the time they left, I needed a nap. It was like a really fun, happy tornado blowing right through the house, leaving as quickly as it came. The only thing that could have been better was if our third son and his family would have been able to be here too. There was much sawing, buzzing, music and commotion, then suddenly everyone left, including daughter Liz. Ken and I collapsed in our recliners and acted like old people.

I know that I will indeed have to get some serious work done in the next few days if we're going to have a company party here by Wednesday. But I have to say, if it's not perfect, if the dust bunnies live to see another day and the junk all gets crammed into a back room, it needs to be okay. There's a lot more to be missed if I don't stop and enjoy the moments, the opportunities that present themselves along the way. I can spend all my energies making this place perfect or I can remember what Christmas is really about. It takes five seconds to stop the merry-go-round and then enjoy all the reasons for the season. The decorations are just gravy. We don't always need gravy. I cracked up when I read these words in my Bible the other day: "I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things." Isaiah 45:7. If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans!