Monday, December 17, 2012

with us

I feel like one of Santa's elves, and it's not just because I live in a festive, cozy house with another small person.  It's more about all the gift-making and shipping we've been doing this month.

This is what the front porch looks like, every day except Sunday. 

I like to pretend that our mail carrier likes to make multiple trips from my front porch to her truck.  (But secretly I fear that she will just give up and stop coming...)
 
Today there is an extra large pile of boxes, because I am shipping out Christmas packages to our families in addition to all the orders that came in over the weekend.  Our house is getting emptier by the minute and I love it! 
 
Oh, and did I tell you about the wrapping paper challenge I gave myself this year?  I had one roll of red paper left over from last year and I decided not to buy any more wrapping supplies.  Instead, I am cutting up grocery bags (thanks Trader Joe's!), shopping bags, and fabric scraps to complete my gift wrapping.  I've got lots of little ribbon scraps saved up and I'm making gift tags out of colored paper.  So far, it's been a lot of fun and I am thrilled to be using up all these craft items that we've been storing!
 
I can hardly believe that Christmas Eve is a week away.  Today I am working on our Christmas menu and looking forward to a quieter week ahead.  My heart has been heavy this month, for so many friends and hard situations and sometimes the holiday bustle becomes too much.  I'm thankful for some time to step back from it all and remember what I read just last week:
 
     "We knew that the promise has never been safety, or that bad things would not happen if we were good and virtuous.  The promise is only that God is in it with us, no matter what it is."  -L'Engle
 
What better time than this to celebrate Emmanuel- God with us?

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