Dh (a.k.a. Himself) remarked a couple of years ago that if it were up to me, we wouldn't even have a Christmas tree. Alas, he is quite correct. Unlike many of my neighbors and friends, I do not decorate my entire house for the holidays. What goes up, I figure, must come down. And who is the one who will be taking it all down, wrapping it all up, and packing it all away? Yes, indeed -- the very one who dreads doing it the most.
I don't subscribe to the cultural (at least in America) ideal that More Is Better in any area of my life, so why should I at Christmas? More is just more, and in this case translates into more work for me, effectively robbing me of my joy. So I limit our decorations and am happier for it.
Yesterday, everything came down except the tree itself, which stands in our dining room, naked except for the lights (it's a pre-lit artificial tree). Himself will pack it up later today. The rest of the downstairs rooms are still messy from our two weeks' holiday, which is an appropriate metaphor for how I deem the ending of 2009.
This past year wasn't all horrid, but there were (and still are) some unexpected and upsetting circumstances. The death of my constant companion for more than 12 years, our corgi Lily, was another blow, albeit an expected one. But instead of feeling frustrated or let down, I feel hopeful. The brand new year gleams before us like a new penny.
I'm excited about the lessons the girls and I have on our schedules, the books we're planning to read, the history we're going to study, and an upcoming trip we're taking in January. There's also a new puppy to look forward to. And I wonder how the Lord is going to reveal himself more to me in the coming days. I'm expectant, rooted in the surety of God's faithfulness to meet me where I am, but not leave me there.
I don't make New Year's resolutions because I never fail to break them; but this year I've decided to stop longing for a quiet life. Instead I'm going to relish in and be grateful for the life I have, the one God obviously has planned for me. There is a truth that I tend to discover, lose, and then re-discover, but always with a happy sense of surprise (though sometimes, it must be said, in hindsight): God's plans are always better than my own. What a difference it would make in my day-to-day life if I would rest in this certainty as one who has found the Lord's grace to be sufficient in all things. This is how I desire to live in 2010 and beyond.
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I do make New Years' Resolutions, but they are broad ones, I make resolutions at Easter - a time of new beginnings, which I hope are more formed, more definite.
ReplyDeleteBless you, you have not had an easy year, I can't think of anyone who has! But you DID get to potter around a crumbly old church in the heart of pagan territory with a dotty Englishwoman and her two dotty-ettes!
One of my many broad brush resolutions is:
Settle for who I am and get on with life, stop theorising.
Yes, rest in Him. Be still, and know that He is God.
Happy New Year, dear.
Pottering around with you and the "dotty-ettes" was most definitely a highlight of my year! Your broad brush resolution is EXACTLY what I need to do, as well, and was brilliantly put. As always.
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