We’re on the road to recovery after a week-long battle with the stomach flu. In between desperate prayers imploring God to spar me of this fate, I kept chanting to myself “I’m not going to get this, I’m not going to get this”—even though I was elbow deep in the care and cleaning of four sick children all week. When Steve woke up sick on Friday I felt like a Licking County deer during open season wearing a target. When the illness moves from the kids to the adults, it’s no longer if, but when—one can no longer believe that this is just a child-targeted virus (there are such things, right?). I take back everything I ever said about my husband being pathetic when he’s sick. When I came down with it on Saturday he sprang into action even though he wasn’t fully recovered himself. It’s stunning how God gives grace and energy when it’s needed most.
So now it's time to get serious about that Christmas shopping. Our original plan was to finish shopping on Saturday, work in the wrapping in the next week, and be finished up by the time we take our break from school and work. Steve and I believe that the stress of shopping detracts from our enjoyment of the month of December (ever been in a store, packed with grumpy shoppers—and they are grumpy—with four whining, wiggling, overly excited yet terribly bored kids?). We would much rather leisurely shop in the previous months, enjoy making our selections, and save the month of December to build traditions with the kids (decorating the house, ice skating, visiting the zoo, cookie baking, attending parties, movies, shows, Christmas Eve services, spoiling neighbors and family with homemade foods, etc.) knowing the "work" of Christmas is already in the bag (so to speak). So it's double time for Santa—or super speed, as the kids would say—to see if we can still make our original goals (which aren’t as good as being finished up by December 1st, but we’ll take what we can get).
Ready. Set. Go!
No comments:
Post a Comment