An epiphany about presence/presents
I feel like I've been running from event to event. Between Young Women activities, Ward activities, PTO activities, concerts and holiday parties-I'm pooped!
That sounds very Scrooge-ish.
I have really enjoyed all of the things we have been doing. Maybe it's my attitude that needs a little adjustment instead of my schedule. Because of the craziness I have gotten to be around a lot of people and get to know them, I've been able to do service, have new experiences with my family, and enjoy some holiday food and fun.
There, attitude adjusted. I love this time of year!
Really, I do. I just have to remember that what is most important is presence, not the presents. It's the people in my life and how I treat them that are more important than the well-run activity, the perfectly baked cookies, extravagant gifts or a clean house.
I do have many fun activities planned for the remaining weeks of this year and I am looking forward to spending some valuable time with some really special people.
Lesson learned. I will remember that it is Christmas Presence that counts!
.JPG)
3 comments:
Well said!!! If you guys ever come up north, please come by and say "HI". We miss you guys!
I know what you mean. It's hard to squeeze it all in and still feel the spirit of Christmas. It seems like every time I turn around I'm remembering one more thing I need to do,or a place to go, or another person I need to call. Oh well such is the season. Merry Christmas.
I appreciated your post for a couple of reasons. First off I often find myself wondering about Christmas and it's meaning for me. Work has been especially crazy this time of year. I don't like to think about why. In addition to that however I am given the opportunity to be in contact with many needy families and organizations that can help those families out with presents. I had one family that had just moved into a new house, have five kids, Mother has been sick for a month straight. Come to find out their furnace had a gas leak that was making her sick so they had to replace the furnace. Their van also haTd it's transmission go out. All of this in the space of one month. The one month when little kids expect toys from Santa Claus. I finished my work with them and dad followed me outside and talked to me about it without anyone else around. I was very impressed that he was able to ask for help. Within the next day, literally, I had presents for all of the children as well as new glasses and some other things they needed in the home. This is all I needed to remember what christmas is.
I also have another tradition to remind me about what christmas means. It's called "The Santaland Diaries" by David Sedaris. He's a fairly well known comedian who wrote about his adventures one year working at the santa village in a New York Mall one year. It's full of wit and sarcasm as he deals with all the horrible parents and their expectations of him and the other elves in the village as they try and herd the masses to sit on Santa's lap. At the end of his experience though, after he's made you laugh histericly with his bitterness he sneaks in a part about some special needs kids coming in and his taking THEM through the village. Gets me into the christmas spirit everytime. I get all fuzzy and love everyone after that. lol. They do a yearly stage production of it here in SLC and it's wonderful.
Sorry this is so long! I get long winded (fingered) sometimes when I am typing. Anyway, the other reason that I loved your post is cause of your word play. I love words and I love whenever someone is smart enough to play with the words to make it mean more. God job on that! Kudos even!
Post a Comment