Practicing Gratitude

So? Are all y'all ready for Christmas yet?? I'm totally not.

I think I promise myself every year that I will be DONE all my preparations by the time December rolls around, but I don't think that's ever actually happened. In fact, most often there are some gifts that have to wait to be purchased until we get to The Big City to celebrate with our families. Hardly even makes sense to wrap them because they're only in my possession for a few minutes before gift-opening time!!

My girls have a long weekend this week, so we will be doing our decorating then... and maybe some baking, if I'm all ambitious-like!  I'll set up the tree and string the lights Thursday night after they're in bed (because that's always an adventure when they want to hang ornaments before the branches are even fluffed out!) and then we'll tackle the rest of the décor on Friday.

I'm thankful for the excitement that comes with Christmas decorating!  Growing up, I used to hardly be able to wait to put up the tree with MY mom, and I love it that my girls eagerly anticipate it, too.  I'm also grateful we're out of the stage where every single ornament gets hung on the SAME branch...  :)

I'm thankful for their growing understanding of the stories in each Jesse Tree devotional.  It's awesome to see how they piece things together and I love the discussions that so often arise after the day's reading.

I'm thankful that though I am far from crafty, I DO have SOME creative juices flowing in my veins!  The walls in the corner of the dining room where we have our Jesse Tree had old achievement awards hiding some rather large paint chips left from popsicle sticks that had been glued onto the wall in the girls' younger years.  I really needed something else on the walls because the certificates were quite out-dated, but the bottom half of the wall is not generally where you want to hang pictures!  Then I had a moment of brilliance and decided to cover some cardboard rectangles with wrapping paper, ribbons and bows, and now I've got 5 Christmas presents on the wall behind the tree.  I love how it looks!  Of course, once Christmas is over, I'll have to figure out something else, but I'll worry about that next month!  (suggestions are always welcome, too!)

I'm grateful for good music and the "Yuletide Fireplace" channel that makes my home feel more festive somehow! Our woodstove is in the basement, so other than the delicious warmth, it does nothing for mood-setting in our home, and though I tend to prefer silence when I'm home by myself during the day, at this time of year, I love having the TV tuned to that channel in the background. Goofy, I know.

Mostly, I'm thankful for the increased feeling of joy, wonder, and anticipation this season always brings.  I know we have so much to be thankful for year round, but there's no denyin' it ~ we tend to FEEL it more this time of year.

 

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