Plans...

**I will just say sorry in advance for the poor quality of my pictures!  The "manual" thing did not work out for me.  And it all happened so fast I did not have time to adjust.  Oh well!

I am starting to wonder why as a mom I make plans.  

I know why.  I am a planner and I function much better when I have a plan.  

But I am slowly learning that even though those plans make me feel better and help our family function more smoothly I have to hold a very, VERY loose grip on those plans.  

These past few weeks have been very different than planned.  

Starting out with asthma, then the flu, then my mom in the hospital with pneumonia.  

All of our "holiday" plans quickly got pushed aside to help care for sick ones.  

I am going to be honest, I love all of the Holiday Festivities.  

It can get crazy and busy, but I love the parties, being with everyone, all the family get togethers, the food, wrapping presents...  I love it all.  

But this year most of that has been removed from our Holiday Season. 

It always feels like Christmas when we are "hustling and bustling" from here to there.  

But this year, without all of the distractions, amazingly, it feels even more like Christmas.  All of the "things to do" have been removed and we as a family have really been able to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.  

Santa is fun, Holiday lunches are fun, parties are fun, but unless your heart is directed toward the coming of Christ, you have missed the reason that we celebrate during this Holiday Season.  One wonderful blessing from being home every night is that we have had about an hour of reading together every night.  Along with our Jesus Story Book Advent Reading Murray has been reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe every night to the kids.  

I did not expect it to prepare my heart for Christmas, but it is such a reminder that things are not the way they are supposed to be.  But we have a Savior who has made it right!  What an exciting time to celebrate the birth of a tiny baby who came to change the world forever!!!

I think of Jeremiah 29:11 "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."  I don't think we would have ever planned our month of December to look like this.  But through it all, the Lord has given us a break from busyness to focus on the meaning of Christmas, filling us with true joy over the birth of our Savior and excited anticipation for his return!

 My ideas for pictures with Santa did not quite turn out the way I planned:)