peace

Some tedious tasks are totally worth the effort.  Like this weekend, when we hung Christmas lights for six straight hours.  We put up lights at the entrance to our neighborhood.  We hung lights outside on our bushes and house.  We lit up our tree, and it looks so festive in its silver tin with those tiny white lights that I almost hate to ruin the calm with ornaments.  The jury is still out on the ornaments this year. 

But I (and I know that not everyone would) consider those six hours time well spent.  For the next month, I will enjoy those neighborhood lights everytime I drive or walk by them.  I will enjoy our house lights each night as I see them twinkling through the windows.  I'm enjoying the tree lights right now, at 10am in broad daylight. 

And that's just me!  Think about all the other people who will be momentarily cheered by the lights as they drive by our house or our street!  Or the friends who were here yesterday for the open house, or who will be here as the month goes on, enjoying the lights right along with us. 

Aside from spreading lots of holiday cheer, we ordered Christmas gifts and practiced some embroidery.  I don't have any to show yet, but soon. 

I've made a long list of December activities to do- things like "take a walk at night" and "have a fire and hot cocoa".  We like to schedule in plenty of slow, quiet things during this hectic month to balance out the speed.  Because as much as I love decorating and buying gifts, I never want to make the mistake of believing that those things make Christmas magical. 

From our Advent calendar over the weekend:

"He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
And he will be our peace"

Thankful for the reminder that what we are actually celebrating during this sometimes stressful time of year is Peace Himself.