It happens every year. I always think I have all this time before Christmas and then time seems to take off at warp speed and before I even know what hit me, Christmas is over and I'm packing up my many holiday decorations to put away until next year.
I hate that!
One of the ways I am trying to combat this warp speed Christmas is the celebration of Advent. Advent is the preparation of our hearts to receive the gift of our Lord Jesus. It requires that we slow down, take a few moments, quiet ourselves and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. It is so necessary and I truly enjoy these moments so why do I find them so hard to come by?
I've got an Advent book that I love and can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking for a meaty, thoughtful and fulfilling read. It's called "Watch For The Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas" and is a collection of essays by exceptional authors such as C.S. Lewis, Deitrich Bonhoeffer and many, many more. There are better reviews of this book on Amazon if you're interested. Even though it's too late to enjoy it this year, keep it in mind for next year's holiday season.
An update on my computer: It is just as I feared and my computer is not functioning anymore. Deader than a doornail. I wasn't sure what to do when my dear husband came to my rescue on his white steed. Well, not really. But, he did tell me that he wanted to buy me a new laptop for Christmas! No kidding! He really did!
I know, I know. I'm spoiled and it's just not fair. He even let me pick it out. So I spent two or three obsessive afternoons scouring the internet looking for the absolute BEST laptop computer out there that didn't cost a fortune. Ha! Each computer has its positives and negatives and finding the best one for me was a fun if tedious job but I finally managed to decide on one and after purchasing it online at Best Buy I was able to stop in the store and pick it up tonight. Talk about torture! I was made to promise that I would wait until Christmas to open it. In the meantime it's going to the computer man's for a spa treatment. Well, more like a fine tuning. He'll get it all set up and bring it back home to introduce it to our router and printer and make them play nice. I can hardly wait for Christmas!
Material things like computers are fun to play with and they really do serve a purpose as servants who enrich our lives and (hopefully) bring opportunities our way. However, in the midst of this busy holiday season I need to remind myself that eventually the computer and almost everything else I own will probably end up in a landfill or perhaps they will just collect dust on someone's shelf. This stuff is temporary and if acquiring it, paying for it or caring for it takes the majority of my time then I need to realign my priorities.
That's where my awesome advent book comes in. It's an excellent book with a great reminder: Don't waste your life! Reprioritize and put your focus where it belongs: Jesus Christ. That's something we should do every day but the Advent season is a great time to start. Don't wait, just do it!
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