Or maybe it does. Maybe I should have titled the post “50 shades of Grinch” and figure out where I fall on the  scale.

At my house, the Christmas tree and decorations come up the weekend after Thanksgiving. That’s when we get ready for Christmas, then come the presents – one of my favorite parts about Christmas – and then we wait for Christmas day. That’s it! No Advent, no cookies, no baking, no sweet memories of Christmas joy. No Christmas cards sent either (which makes me a Christmas card hypocrite because I love getting Christmas cards and look forward to opening my mail during this time of the year).

It’s not that I don’t want to go all out, I just don’t have the energy to do it. Winter season is also sick season, so we’ve already gone through plenty of rounds of antibiotics, ear infections, sinus infections, and the stomach bug.

Advent is a great way to remember why we celebrate Christmas, but I also know that God knows my heart, and He wants me to love Him now and in January, and February, and March, and every month of the year.

So while my friends post about the adventures of the Elf on the Shelf; while others bake cookies, make fudge, and other delicious Christmas treats; while creative geniuses find meaningful ways to count down to Christmas; while there are crafts and stories to remind children about the birth of Christ; I am struggling to keep my house picked up, the laundry caught up so everyone can have clean underwear, and I cannot remember the last time I changed the sheets in the girls’ rooms.

Christmas cards? I’m not sure i manage to send just one thank-you note a year, let alone address cards for all the people we would love to send cards to.

So instead, we sit down by the soft glow of the lights on the Christmas tree, sometimes sipping hot chocolate, sometimes preventing the rascal from opening all her presents. And it’s good. And I feel blessed. And I think about the miracle of God becoming flesh, coming to this earth so that He could save me.

Soon, family will join us and we will rejoice in the fact that we get to do life together.

But on the meantime, from my family to yours:

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

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