Most wonderful time of the year?

My favorite Christmas song this year is “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”…but not for the reason you would expect.

I love this song this year because it has made me laugh out loud three times in the last week.

You see, things are a little hectic at my house right now. I have a husband, a 3-year old daughter, a dog, we moved in August of this year, I started working another job where I work evenings and weekends, I’m writing my first book, our iBloom team started a dream-come-true weekly radio program in October, and I was a terrible housekeeper and meal planner to begin with. That is the stuff train wrecks are made of.

This morning my daughter and I overslept. We woke up at 8:25 and were supposed to be at preschool by 9. So I get her ready, gave her milk and a banana to eat in the car. The tights I brought downstairs to put on her had a hole in the knee. We ran downstairs because her clean underwear hadn’t made it out of the laundry room and upstairs to her room yet. (At least we had some clean underwear somewhere…) So I ran back upstairs to get some hole-less tights… Grab my make-up bag of tricks and take it with me. Left without brushing my hair but I did manage to brush my teeth! Did I feed the dog? Nope. Sorry Chloe…

Dropped Halle Kate off for preschool then ran back out to the car to put on my makeup. While I am in the car, I am prompted to thank God for this crazy morning and this crazy season of my life. So I do. I thank Him that I was able to get some much-needed rest, that we had milk and bananas, that we have an incredible church with an amazing preschool program (Thank you Miss Sharon, Miss Lisa, & Miss Melissa). I am so blessed. I thank Him that I am a girl and I get to wear make-up. I can’t imagine being a guy and just having to go out in the morning looking like I do when I first get up!

As I am putting my make-up on, my car starts making that annoying clicking sound again. It started about a week ago and has something to do with a motor in the passenger-side door. That’s something I need to take care of too, just haven’t figured out when I will do that. So anyway, I turned up the radio to compensate for the clicking-sound intrusion. I’m listening to the local station that plays Christmas music non-stop…and there it is, my Christmas 2009 theme song again, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!”

A few days ago, I had called my Mom and when she answered, I just started singing it to her in a half sarcastic/half Broadway sort of fashion. We both laughed so hard! It felt great. She’s been busier than ever at work, we’ve had several family members have concerning medical issues lately, and neither of us have had much time to chat about it all. We are realizing more and more that the Christmas train stops for no one.

I first realized this in 2002 after my grandfather died. Hallmark hadn’t gotten the memo because it was Christmas as usual for the rest of the world. Choo Choo…

Maybe you’ve had a tough year, maybe you’ve had medical problems or you’ve lost a job or you’ve lost someone you love. Stop and take time to do what does not come naturally–give thanks. Scripture instructs us to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). ALL circumstances. The good ones, the bad ones, the hectic ones, the scary ones, and the I-don’t-know-how-I-can-survive-this ones. Find one thing to be thankful for: your ability to read this for starters. Then ask God to multiply your thankful Spirit. Giving thanks when life isn’t going as planned allows God to help you take in what is good this Christmas season and every season of your life.

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