Needing That Extra Portion....

Let me come eagerly to Christmas this year, Lord.  Let me come gaily, with a new delight in the countless things I must accomplish - the shopping, the wrapping, and mailing, the addressing of mountains of cards.  Let me find new joy in the bazaars, the parties and programs, the baking and decorating...not to mention all the things I've promised to do for others

Instead of my usual seasonal panic, fill me with a glowing sense of trust and peace.  Each day that I awake, let me rejoice in the fact that I'm well and able to do it - that I can get up and begin.

And though there never seems to be enough time (or money), let me remember that you've never let us down.  That as with the loaves and the fishes, a miracle happens each year. There is always plenty - more than plenty.  The house overflows with gifts and friends, the tree is bowed with its shining burden, the table groans with delicious things to eat.

Even time stretches out like a magic ribbon, somehow embracing all that must be done.  As for a woman's strength - therein lies the greatest marvel of all.  You give each of us extra portions for this season so that at the end, like children, we hug Christmas close to our hearts and don't want it to be over.

Remind me of all this as I prepare for Christmas this year, Lord.  Let me come eagerly to the seemingly impossible, knowing that this holy, happy season is a time of miracles.  ~ Marjorie Holmes Mighell,  December 1973.

I need to read this over & over & over again because I am feeling that seasonal panic.  If you have wondered where in the world I have been these past 10 days, and it really is unlike me to not blog I was overwhelmed with, once again, my procrastination.  After the wonderful Thanksgiving and short visit with my son & daughter-in-law from California I began to work on the Open House/Art Show where I sell CD Calendars and cards all with my photography, with most of the profits going to the Alzheimer's Foundation. The final tally isn't in but I sold approximately 30 calendars and 88 cards. My friend Marti and I have done this together for the past two years....with her profits going to The Cancer Research Center at Purdue University. Two charities we feel passionate about.

Marti and I are both rather unorganized, I am not telling tales on her, she openly admits it. And well, I can probably rank very close to number one at being a top notch procrastinator. Believe me, not something I am proud of, but unfortunately I have been this way my entire life.  If there is an organization gene, I must have been absent the day it was passed out.  As age creeps in, being a procrastinator is magnified because not only have I put things off, I am slower at completing those tasks.  A rotten combination. So we have vowed to begin our projects much earlier next year, but then I think back to how many times I have said...."OK, this is the year for organization" and it ain't done yet and another year is about ready to wrap up.

I want to hug Christmas close to my heart  so I am taking a deep breath, saying a prayer and diving in tomorrow to ready myself for the holidays.  How about you, are your holidays filled with a glowing sense of trust and peace?  Or are you a little like me, feeling a little seasonal panic and needing that extra portion of strength?

Until next time.....