BUSY Week!

It's been a busy week around here and I'm starting to wonder how certain bloggers do it by posting everyday in the month of December! (Just wrong~smile.) Anyway, still to do this week...

~Make a load of laundry detergent

~ Finish up homemade Christmas baskets...got the jams completed, but need to plan out how I'm going to do the bread and which recipe to use.

~ Playdates with friends

~ Still getting 7 eggs a day from 17 laying hens! Need to take a day and campout in the chicken coop to see who the culprit is. Any volunteers? I just don't have time for this. Sigh.

~ Hubby and I have just about finished shopping for the kiddos' presents. Didn't buy much this year, but much thought went into the gifts. Two gifts in particular they'll surely be thankful for! (Yes, I'll take pictures.)

~ Besides the homemade baskets, haven't bought immediate family's gifts yet. Trying to stick to the budget of coarse.

Well, I'm sure there's more, but to list them isn't up my alley right now. :) I've decided to calm it down a notch this year, eliminating a few things that normally stress me out. I've decided to just relax and enjoy the season of Christ's birth this year. No Christmas cards/letters, no crazy crafts, taking a good two-week break from the kids' schooling, you know...just not going crazy. It's been so nice. I've had more time to study the Word and just talk with the Lord, seeking counsel and enjoying being in His presence. Peaceful. Joyful. Meaningful, precious time. I often wonder what Christ would say if He were here physically on earth, observing our holiday celebrations. How much we must dissappoint Him. How material it is. How FAR from what Christmas really means. My heart often aches for what He must feel.

"So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

Luke 2:16-19