Christmas Day Off

My co-workers and I pick work schedules on a seniority basis. No one expects anyone to pick on anything but a selfish basis (nor do we intend to ourselves). We aren't always happy with our lot, but seniority is the deal and we accept it.

When it came to picking shifts for Christmas, it turned out I would be the first person obligated to work the day if no one with more seniority choose to. I assumed I'd be working.

Shortly before Thanksgiving it was my turn to pick. Unexpectedly I had the option to take the day off! The co-worker one slot above me in seniority said she didn't really have anything going on and remembered how important Christmas was as a kid. (She doesn't have kids but knows I do.) She decided to work a shift so I could have the day off (or someone else could if I didn't want it)!

What I gift. I've been enjoying it since I received the first part of the gift before Thanksgiving. I'll especially enjoy it as I spend Christmas with my kids and husband. They'll enjoy it too. And I'll savor it all the more because of how quickly kids grow and change. This Christmas, or another with my kids as they are now, will never come again.

I doubt any of the typical Christmas gifts I've given or received have been as much in keeping with the meaning and spirit of Christmas as this. Its a notable act of giving of oneself for the good of others.

I didn't have the clarity to express the meaning of Christmas in those terms before I reflected on this situation. I know it doesn't cover all the bases. But it seems helpful, full of potential from secular or religious perspectives.

So, thanks to to sam for insight, inspiration and the gift of Christmas Day spent with my family.

I'm Not Waiting

Advent - a time of waiting & preparing?

My kids are waiting....to have the Advent candles lit again (how many days ago did we last do that?)...to get out the Christmas decorations that aren't up yet....to open gifts....

I'm not waiting. I'm rushing against the clock to get everything done in time for Christmas.

In a way I am waiting....waiting and hoping for the elusive year I do it different and don't end up rushed and stressed...waiting and hoping that a time comes this year when enough of the preparations are done that I can slow down and sink more deeply into the meanings and joys of the holidays.

I am preparing. It's a lot of work. I guess making straight a highway in the desert would be a lot of work too. But I'm not sure how many of my preparations are preparing the way of the Lord.

How can I think about things differently so I do things differently so my family and I observe the season with less craziness and more meaning?

Name Tags

I mentioned at church the other day that I'm glad we've gotten name tags to wear. There are so many people I know by sight, but not by name. A person who heard me said, "Oh, you too? I think we all have to admit that to each other." I felt a bit better, hearing that - maybe its not just me as much as I thought. In any case, thank you to those of you who got the name tags going!

Are You Lost Without Your Kids?

That's what a couple people asked me last night at a church event that I attended by myself. The question echoed my thoughts from earlier in the evening. I've so rarely experienced a service or interacted with people at this church without the multi-tasking associated with being accompanied by my children. It's a notably different experience to be there on my own. As important as it is to me to routinely have my kids with me at church, one of its drawbacks is that it has contributed to certain limitations in my relationships with other adults there.

I've been wanting to post a few things that don't really fit into my Children in Church blog. My experience last night was the final impetus to give myself a place to do so through this new blog. I hope it will serve a few purposes. Among them, conversation. Feel free to join in.