11 DAYS AND COUNTING!

11 more days til it's over! I can finally have a clean house. I'll be able to actually walk to my bed without climbing over, scrapes, sewing machine, material , tiles, vinyl lettering, bags and more bags, and piles of clothes clean and dirty. Which is which? Any ones guess. I'll have time to clean out the closet from all the junk ( closets weren't meant for clothes any more than garages were meant to park your car) then I'll see the empty spaces for all the clothes I don't have. And I may even find the gift I shoved in the back behind the shoes that I forgot to wrap. Oh Well, no one will know. I'll clean out my purse which is way over do and organize all the receipts that I have crammed in it at the check stand in a hurry to get the heck out of their. The person breathing down my neck impatiently at the check out doesn't help the situation either. Can't wait to have time to clean my toilet. It doesn't take long before black creatures start to grow. I will get caught up on my laundry and have clean towels. Reusing a towel once is okay with me but more than that is not good. I was getting ready for work the other morning and as I grabbed a towel to dry my face I got hit with the big "BO" smell, gross! I'm tired of running to the store for something I need to make all those holiday goodies and always forgetting the milk and bread. BEST OF ALL, I will get rid of all the decorations that I don't use yet hang on to because, "You never know."
Can't wait til it's over! If any of you get this way raise your hand.
So I had a day off Monday and I refused to go out shopping and decided to sit and relax for a moment and watch the snow fall. It was so peaceful watching everyting turn white. I found myself with a lump in my throat and thinking to myself, "I LOVE CHRISTMAS." Why did I let all the hustle and bustle of the season get to me this year? I know better.
I tell myself every year that I won't let the commercialism, rude shoppers and "have to have it " get to me. I do pretty well with my spending though.  Christmases have always been paid for. Some years have been meager but we already have all we need, really! As I continued to watched the snow fall.....
I took time to reflect on all my many blessings.
1. A sufficient home with a large backyard that has brought so many good memories to our family.
2. 5 wonderful grown kids who have HUGE hearts and love for family and all the traditions we hold dear.
3. 2 amazingly smart and gorgeous grandchildren, who bring LIGHT into to my sometimes dark world.
4. A job
5. My boss is 73 and still caring for the health of people he has grown to love. Great example to me.
6. I still have my mother around whenever I want to watch a Jazz game, go to lunch , play cards or just hang out . I love helping her prepare those great gifts she lovingly gives her family every year.
7. My husband who works so hard to provide. He loves the Savior and I know that he will never wavier off the course of his strong testimony.
8. For 2 daughters who chose to be mothers in a day where it is felt to be so inconvenient.
9. For my son-in-laws mom Diane and her children who are like my own relatives. I love her and have so much fun with their family.
10. Grateful for my other son-in-laws mother, Alice, who taught Kent so many wonderful traits.
Hard work, compassion, forgiveness, card playing, game playing fool and a love for children.
11.My OLD car .

THE THREE LEVELS OF CHRISTMAS

The first level is THE SANTA CLAUSE LEVEL. It's the level of Christmas trees and holly and colorful packages, of candlelight and rich food and warm open houses. It's carolers, shopping malls, excited children and weary parents. The level of caring and giving, eating too much and spending too much and enjoy every minute of it. We love this level of Christmas.

The 2nd level is THE SILENT NIGHT LEVEL. Our glorious Christmas carols. The familiar story, "Now in those days there went out a decree..." It's the level of the crowded inn, the Holy moment in a dark stable when the son of man came to earth. It's the Shepherd's, angles, and glad tidings. Wise men traveling far in search for the Holy One. We love this level of Christmas.

The trouble is these 2 levels don't last

The 12 days of Christmas is all we can stand and the trees dry out and drop needles all over the floor. The lights on our pre-lit trees burn out. The beautiful wrappings go out in the trash. The toys eventually break, the feast is over and the dieting begins. We get out the vacuum and put the decorations away. And the lonely and the hungry are with us still.
How many times this season can we sing Silent Night? The sacred Holy Night, the Shepherd's, the angle and the star can't long satisfy humanities basic need. The man who keeps Christ in the manger will, in the end, be disappointed and empty.

No! For Christmas to last all year, for it to have the power that changes lives, we must celebrate it on the 3rd level. THE ADULT CHRIST. It is at this level that our Savior brings us gifts of lasting JOY, PEACE, and HOPE. The adult Christ who reached out and touched the untouchable, and loved the unlovable, who so loved us all that even in His agony on the cross He prayed forgiveness for His enemies. This is the Christ who wept, Enoch tells us, because so many of us lack affection and hate each other - and then who willingly gave His life for ALL of us.
This is the adult Christ who gave us the perfect example and asked us to follow Him.
This is the Christ who said "If ye love me, keep my commandments"
"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."
Accepting that invitation - to keep His commandments - and love one another - is the way - THE ONLY WAY - to celebrate Christmas all year and all life long!
....May you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS all year long.....