I'm currently doing three different Christmas reading plans on my Bible app. I'm just trying hard not to miss the joy this Christmas season because of all the NOT merry stuff on my plate right now.
*Army graduations are so stressful but this one was even more so because the unit Elijah was in literally communicated not 1 word about the in-person graduation to the parents.
*a car crash the day before we left put so many wrinkles into our trip and extended our driving time.... as we had to go to Georgia and take Noah to his new base.
*my work is just so busy. I've been working overtime for at least 6 months.
*and my surgery is very close on the horizon---just 9 days away now
*2 soldiers arriving at the airport on 2 different days (one of them I have to miss because I'll still be in the hospital.)
*then two whirlwind weeks full of celebrations and family and the Kastner6 together.
I just KNOW that I'm going to get to January 5th and think, "Wow! That was a blink of a eye!" It already feels like it went fast, and it hasn't even all the way started.
As I FLY, full-speed down this hill, there are a few things I'm doing to try to make sure I don't miss everything....
1. The most important one Get. In. The. Word. Every single day... Multiple different reading plans. Worship songs while I exercise. Quiet minutes of listening for His voice even when I feel like I can't slow down. I'm tying to center my heart on my Savior's birth to help me remember the Reason for the Season.
2. Count it all joy. I'm really truly TRYING to count it all joy. My work being so busy made Elijah's time in basic seem exponentially shorter. Elijah's unit being so disorganized meant they didn't even look at our registration for our car which was last year's not this year's. All this insanity and having to pump the brakes to just even experience any of it is giving me very little time to stress out about this knee surgery. This fast pace which I'm fighting so hard is actually what's making it like "oh my gosh it's already only 10 days until I see Elijah again!" So I'm trying to embrace the suck because the suck is actually beneficial for me.
3. Connect with my people. Even though I'm stressed and busier than a one- armed wallpaper hanger I'm trying to be intentional about connecting with people. It is so helpful to my mental health and it us why I do all this craziness.... my people.
Whatever kind of Christmas season you're having, chill - crazy - lonely - mournful, you can still be purposeful and celebrate Christmas. My prayer is that today you'll find just one way to do that.
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:10-11