The slow fade of Christmas

Because it is #ThrowbackThursday and it's still a bit Christmasy around here... I am updating/reposting this because - well - because it still says everything I want to say right about now... I will be back over the weekend for a bit of a different take on "That Thing I Do Now" and then it will be quiet a bit longer around here as we prepare for the New Year... looking forward to another one spent with you, my friends! 

Until then... this:

Ah yes... whether this thought makes you giddy or sad,
- it is true either way:

Christmas is fading!

 It seems - in our culture - Christmas 'starts' in October somehow... the stores are filled with all things Christmas, WAY too early if you ask me!  Then comes the actual shopping... the stress... the joy... the family and friends and increase (hopefully!) in all things social... the decorating and baking and cleaning and cleaning and recleaning again... the crafting and caroling... the laundry and dishes... the parties and game nights and the telling and reading of stories - new and old... the breathing and slowing down in the midst of the crazy... the love and the legacy and the remembering and forgiving... the sharing and giving and receiving and thanking... and the Reason for the Season trying to shine bright in the middle of all of it!

Finally - a few days drawn out to actually TRULY celebrate Christmas... Christ with us... Emmanuel... finally... the gifts are given and unwrapped... the thank-you's and I-love-it's and hugs are given freely... meals are shared... memories revisited and made anew... gatherings trickle and come to an end... the tree looks naked minus the gifts... the stockings strung on the floor - seemingly emptier than before they were filled... and Christmas is fading!

I LOVE Christmas... even the madness and chaos... I love Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and how we normally celebrate (changes came this year as our little household got slammed with sickness and no one really wanted to share in all of THAT?)... I love the day after, which is my Honey's birthday... and then comes this week... lights are still turned on at night... Christmas lingers but you can see and feel and know the magic of it is shifting... waning... fading ever so slowly... and our tendency to press right on and plow into whatever is Next pulls at our attention!

Now - we move from the hectic rush of the holidays, to the NEWness of what comes next!  The refocusing of what our daily life is all about and where it really is that we want to be heading.  Who among us hasn't wanted - no: NEEDED - a Do Over... a New Start... a Fresh Direction?  It's in these next several days that I love to reflect over the past year, take it slow and be purposeful in the pondering... and I pray for what may be in store for 2014.

Every year, I spend New Years Day morning with the Lord... seeking direction, a word or phrase for the year ahead... a Scripture to cling to, a promise that He may whisper to my heart.  You can read last years' post here: 2013's New Year Post.  I love to reread them a year later and pray over what He said... see how He brought it to pass in pieces and parts... it's rarely ever ALL come to pass - but we can see the forward motion in so many ways!

So I have been quiet around here... drinking in all that is the holidays and now, quiet a bit longer, as I drink in all that is ahead and pray that I can catch a glimpse... get a Word... share some hope for the coming new year!  I encourage you to do the same... and then come back in early January! Join me in sharing what He is speaking to your heart for the New Year coming straight at us! I pray you, like me, can feel Peace lingering and Hope arising!

Blessings,




(I will be posting another Year in Review of sorts too... recapping some of my favorite posts - or some of yours, anyway! Thankful for each of you who stop by and spend a little time with me! Believing for a Happy and Healthy New Year!)