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Unexpected

One week till Christmas.

Seven days.

How are you doing?

Hanging in there?

Excelling?

Crying?

It's ok. I've done all three in the past week.

This morning I woke up with nothing to do. Of course there are things to do, but the calendar is clear today.

Today I get to bake and clean and listen to Christmas music and rest. We have been running winter colds through the six people in our house and I woke up with a sore throat, but today I can rest, so I will be thankful for that.

I know this next week can be really hard. I know that losses, finances, and hardships are heightened this time of year. It's ok to be sad. It's ok to feel the weight of unmet expectations.

I am walking into this week with hands open.

I will not let the dreams of what could be ruin the truth of what is right in front of me.

I still have gifts to wrap, goodies to bake, I didn't get a Christmas card sent out this year, snow is threatening to ruin my travel plans, kids are sick, and tensions tend to run high in our house during the holidays.

None of that matters.

Love matters. Showing up late, messy, unwrapped, bringing my best, even at my worst and offering it  to the people around me, that is what matters.

I hope you are feeling joyful, hopeful and at peace this holiday season. I hope that you are surrounded by love. I hope that you feel accepted despite your own perceptions of brokenness and shortcomings.

But if you don't feel those things, rest in this; Christmas has never been about showing up with everything all put together. Christmas is about finding love, peace and joy in unexpected places.

Sometimes we find Christmas under a tree, surrounded by family, with music playing, candles lit and the scent of dinner wafting from the kitchen.

But sometimes Christmas is disguised in the form of cancelled plans, burnt food, and the imperfect people that make up the everyday life that we are living with all year round.

If you miss the mark this week and the big day leaves you feeling defeated and let down, it's ok. You have 364 other days to show up and try again.

Let's go into this week, wanting nothing, expecting no certain outcome. Let's rejoice in the simple, let's give thanks for the mundane, lets marvel at the unexpected, because the unexpected is often where miracles appear.

With love,
Me


Be still. Take time and pray. Thank God for the simple things in your life right now. I am thanking God for my quiet time this morning, and the peace he gives me when I ask.

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