psalm 126:3

the Lord has been good to us and we are filled with joy!
psalm 126:3

our christmas card

if you are anything like me, you probably don't have much time to read long posts if any at all, so i have been trying and will continue to keep mine short and sweet. this one is a little lengthy, but it does have a point!

from this weekend forward, it is going to be the last stretch of the race for me, as i am sure it is going to be for you as well. it has been a busy week (busy month!) and this next week will be too! we have a lot of fun things going on this weekend and this week, i am looking forward to all of it. but i know it is going to be lightning speed from here on out. honestly, i am really looking forward to getting to christmas day and just enjoying our family. until then, i will be hanging on while this week flies by and trying to keep the true meaning of christmas at the heart of it all.

i think i told you before i knew that before we even started this month, we had literally two, yes only two days, that we had nothing scheduled. the first day was during the first week of the month. the second day was this past thursday. and that quickly changed!

i will back up to tuesday, when my sister called me to let me know that she was scheduling a hair appointment for me on thursday morning for my christmas present. i was soooo excited. she even arranged for childcare for my kiddos who would be home that morning. so thursday morning started out with a much needed haircut - i am so grateful that my sister thought of that for me! that afternoon, i found out that our good friend's were in need of prayer and encouragement. so that evening, jamil went over to their home with a group of other men from our church and they prayed for this special family. both great things but our one remaining free day wasn't free anymore.

on thursday, jesiah and jaelyn both started running fevers again. i started to realize that my plans for the next day would probably change. i had a babysitter lined up so that i could go out for the day and knock out all our christmas shopping without kids. on friday morning, which i might add was miserable weather wise (freezing rain and very cold), both kids were still feeling yucky and running fevers. so, i had to cancel our babysitter and began calling our doctor's. finally, i got threw, two hours later, because their phones were down,and got sick appointments for them. i most certainly would have rather been shopping than taking my kids to the doctors. as much as i love our pediatricians, i was ready to get the shopping done!

i must say i was pretty stressed out about the change in plans. i had no idea how it would all get done. i was also stressed out to have to pay nearly two hundred dollars in copays and prescriptions. but my kids were sick and i had to do it. jesiah had a sinus infection and jaelyn had an ear infection. i was in a pretty grumpy mood because of all of this.

friday. was also our ten year anniversary (which i have failed to post about like i said, ooops) and everything was going wrong. by late afternoon, i knew i had to stop stressing out and change my attitude! that was when i realized that i could still do my shopping online and it would get here by christmas (hopefully ;) so, my mother in law took the three big kids to her house for the evening. jaelyn went to bed early and jamil and i had a date night "in". he went to chili's and got some food to go - yum! then we spent the evening ordering the kids' christmas gifts from our comfortable warm home. i began to fight the enemy and realize that God was still at work. even though my day had fallen apart, He was still at work. and things were going to be ok! i just had to let go of all the yuck of the day that was thrown my day. i had to choose to praise Him! i had to focus on the joy that i have in Him! and know that He always provides for us! He is so good!

i was so thankful that we had the money to be able to take care of our kids' medical needs. the money came out of what we planned to spend for christmas, but i was ok with that, we just cut back what we planned to buy for the kids and i found some really good deals online! i realized quickly my kids could be lying in a hospital and really truly sick and it could be costing me a whole lot more. i was so thankful that my day was so miserable because i was able to see how He really provides. i sat in my warm home out of the rain ordering christmas presents from the internet. how dare i complain again about things not going my way. i had to look at all i have and not at what i don't have. He is showing me how to have a simple christmas after all! i am keeping things in perspective and choosing to find joy in everything good and not so good!

so this morning i was able to go out and knock off several more things off of my shopping list. jamil stayed home with the kids so they could continuing getting well. so now, i am almost done with everything! i did have a minor set back when i went to get our christmas cards, but we were able to fix it.

i have no idea when or how i will be able to keep my posts going through this busy week. so it may be kind of quiet around here! i have lots of things i want to post, but not sure if it will happen.

so what about you how have you seen God work in your busy life this christmas season? are you choosing joy over stress? i know it is hard! but give it a try!