Christmas musings

It has been busy around here recently.  Christmas is just around the corner, which means holiday shopping and Christmas morning service planning for me.  I finally finished my online holiday shopping, which was nice to have under my belt.  And tonight is the first rehearsal for our Christmas morning service here at the church.  On top of that, I still have to get the "normal", week-to-week stuff done.  So it's been hectic.

But I can't complain at all.  I like being busy.  I'd rather be busy than bored.  Not that I don't enjoy rest every once in a while.  I just don't like having idle hands.

Recently, the thing that's kept my hands the least idle are homemade Christmas presents.  I know what you're thinking, "Wow.  She's cheap."  And there's some truth to that.  However, that's not the motivation for these gifts.  I found these particular gifts on Pinterest and knew that they would be perfect for certain people, better than something I could buy.  Fortunately, I have a boyfriend who gets excited about my projects and likes to work on them with me, which has been helpful since some of these have been more involved than I expected.  So Chewie and I have been working on gifts for a couple of weeks now - we do a little bit every day.  Slowly, but surely, our projects are coming along.  And I plan to share them with you on here soon after they've been given to their recipients - I don't want to spoil the surprise for them!

I'm super excited because next week, Chewie and I are hosting our 2nd Annual Christmas Movie Party!  Last year about this time we invited a bunch of friends and had a spontaneous Christmas party and watched some classic Christmas movies on a big screen at the camp where Chewie works. We had a great time, and I think it was a pretty big success, so we decided to do it again this year.  And this year, our movie of choice is one of my faves: Elf.  If you haven't seen it, you are SO missing out.  It's super kid-friendly, but it appeals to all ages.  Anyway, I'm crazy excited about this year's party.  I've got some fun themed treats planned.

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday festivities - I know I am.  It's such a happy time of the year, but at the same time it's sobering.  The whole reason we celebrate Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  And the purpose of Jesus' birth here on earth was to die for mankind.  I was brought to tears yesterday as I pondered this thought.  I know we don't usually reflect on the death of Christ like this until Easter, but I couldn't help but be reminded of why he was born.  And how my sin and shortcomings make me so undeserving and unworthy of the gift of Jesus and his salvation.  But oh how wonderful it is to know that, in spite of my unworthiness, God loved me so much that he sent Jesus here as a little baby to save the world!  It's absolutely beautiful.

Happy Christmas!