Usually my halls are decked both inside and out. Usually there are several kinds of Christmas cookies prepared and waiting in the freezer. I’ve been in a funk. Try as I might, the Christmas spirit has eluded me. And then yesterday, after a series of comical and could-have-been-tragic events, I found the missing link. The key to my transformation was a simple little sentence drilled into me by a Sunday school teacher:
Take ME out of the equation.
Aside from admitting that yes, I hear voices in my head on occasion, I must also admit how extremely selfish I have been. Who am I to go around ho-humming about Christmas not being magical? It’s not about me! It’s about the birth of Jesus and the promise for mankind. It’s about everyone else … EXCEPT me.
Is there a doctor in the house?
We arrived at a family gathering yesterday and the kids wandered off … as kids do when surrounded by a couple dozen of their cousins. One cousin was astute enough to grab a bottle of pills from my two-year-old’s greedy little hands and quickly report that he had eaten “a bunch” of them. He had wandered into a bedroom, opened a bottle of medicine and eaten 1/3 of the pills in the bottle. Thank heavens we have a doctor in the family! She immediately called Poison Control. Because the pills were ”homeopathic” muscle relaxers, my little pill-popper would be fine, aside from some intestinal upset.
Rules to live by:
1) Never take your eyes off a two-year-old
2) Make sure there is a doctor at every family gathering where such two-year-old is present
3) Take “me” out of the equation and be attentive to everyone around you
I experience near heart failure and a jolt of reality. Funny how God reminds us who is really in charge when when we go a little left-of-center and start trying to manage our own lives. Who cares if the house isn’t dripping with white lights and red bows! And to think … I almost didn’t attend that party because I was feeling blue! Do you know what happened when we got home? I put my kids to bed, turned on my favorite Christmas CD and made a batch of cookies. Aahhh, Christmas bliss …
And the hits just keep on coming
I went to bed with a happy heart. My daughter awoke with a bellyache at 11:30. My son awoke with an earache at midnight. The new puppy had to pee a short time later. At 1:30, my daughter said, “My tummy really hurts, Mommy.” And then she proceeded to spew a gallon of puke on my bare feet. No worries … she no longer had a tummy ache!
Turn your eyes and heart outward … and have a very, merry Christmas!
