Boy, I feel like I am in the midst of the craziest, busiest few weeks of the year right now!

My all important calendar/scheduler/life notebook is jam packed with things to do and events to remember.  There are three people's schedules to keep track of, and it's overwhelming at times for me.

Josh's choirs have had over a half dozen performances, with more to go.  Plus, he's got various meetings and other commitments to keep him occupied beyond school hours.

In addition to preschool three days a week, Catherine has gymnastics on Monday, soccer on Tuesday,  Awana on Wednesday, and MOTTTS on Thursday.  Then there's all the extras to keep track of:  field trips, permission slips, buying Christmas gifts for her teachers, when she's supposed to take snack, when that birthday party was rescheduled to, who she's supposed to invite to the Christmas pageant, what costume she's supposed to wear.

And then there's me.  I'm trying to keep track of all on my to do list.  The ladies' annual Christmas party is the largest event I plan for women's ministry at our church, and it's this week.  For so long, it's been on the back burner, and now I'm in denial about the fact that I need to move it up to the front burner and start cooking!

The word that keeps coming to mind when I try to describe my life right now is chaotic.   And I think you can understand why.

I'm sure you have your own set of things to keep track of, presents to buy, meals to plan, cookies to decorate, errands to run, commitments to keep.

And in the midst of all the mess, is the nativity.



 The Christ Child.  Emmanuel.  God with us.

Here.  In the mess.


It amazes me that He actually wants our messes.  That we don't have to first get things cleaned up and organized and all pretty looking.  Thank God!  Because that's never gonna happen!

So, I'm just trying to remember, and maybe you need the reminder too, that He is here with us.

In the midst.

In the mess.

Christ with us.

Don't ya just hate it when your body thought it was nap time when it was actually supposed to be bed time?

And after 2 oh-so-brief hours of sleep, it is WIDE AWAKE.

So you spend the time resting.

Or trying to rest.

And you spend time praying and wrestling with God.

But your brain keeps thinking.

Of ideas and To Do lists.

And the story line of Gilmore Girls Revival.

And you debate if you should get up or still keep trying, hoping for more sleep to come.

Your ears think they hear the furnace running, and your brain is telling you it has sounded like that for the last hour while you've been laying (or is it lying?) awake.

So eventually your curious brain, your tightwad tendencies, and your full bladder, win.

You get up and come downstairs and readjust the thermostat.

And go to the bathroom.

When you realize yesterday's mid-afternoon coffee kind of turned into evening coffee, you start wondering if its affects on you is more than just having to use the facilities.

(You have to write "use the facilities" because you can't write "pee" in your blog post; although, you vaguely recall some other writing of yours using that word 2 or 3 times.)

You turn on a dim lamp because 5 AM is too early for the overhead, and you snuggle up on the couch under a cozy, crazy soft gray blanket.

And you write.
Sometimes you don't know why you write, and you even wonder if you should continue pursuing this whole blogging thing.

But the words form inside you and want to be released.

And though your womb is barren, your soul births new thoughts.