I had planned on letting go of some things in order to experience a "simple Christmas". But life is anything but simple. In the midst of it all we all got horrible colds/flu. So, it was a good thing not putting pressure on myself to "do it all". Because of the colds, there were even more things that we had to let go of...but it was OK.
Not all of the planned cookie baking got done, a Christmas bread didn't make it to the table, a traditional ham dinner on Christmas Day was changed to a brunch ( a wonderful meal but the guys preferred the ham ), and Christmas cards weren't sent this year.( right now I'm working on a New Years letter ...it took the pressure off ) Oh, and blogging was all but forgotten. And even though there was much planning ( ironically I had to PLAN to make sure I kept it intentionally simple ), there were still some last minute trips to the store for forgotten items!But we all felt so blessed through all the celebrating! This year we tried to focus on just the important stuff: the birth of Jesus, giving to others in need, and family. Oh sure, we had decorations but they weren't the focus and they were simple this year. Candles and lots of natural elements and only one tree, a fresh one. I left a lot of the decorations in their boxes this year.
We were blessed with a new little granddaughter who was brought into our lives and she celebrated her first Christmas with us. It was a special time with family! I felt a lot of peace this year intentionally focusing on simplicity and keeping only the most important things in our Christmas this year. In fact because of this I've decided to write an e-book about "intentional living", while making 2014 a year of intentional living myself. So instead of thinking of setting goals, I'm going to think of it as "intentional living". I'll keep you posted on that...
Aw, it's never any fun when everyone gets sick at the holidays but it tends to happen quite a bit. We had 3 deaths right around Christmas. I started calling it the season of sorrow.. Other than the illnesses your Christmas sounded wonderfully, intentionally, simple. :) Yay you.. Sometimes I don't let Christmas explode at my house even when I'm not sick! Some years it's just that way.. Happy you see you blogging again and please have a very Happy and Safe New Year.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy! I'm sorry you were sick. I hope you're on the mend now. Your Christmas sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteI love your "Intentional living" idea! I also had a simpler Christmas this year and enjoyed it so much more!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful photo of your family. You spent time with them...and that's better than anything else! Happy new year my friend!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to spend Christmas with your new granddaughter, and you got a great picture! I sure hope you're feeling well now. A lot of sickness has been going around, and I just pray my family doesn't get it! Sometimes, simple is the best. Life has a way of slowing us down - stripping away all the "fluff." Hope your New Year is blessed. XOXO
ReplyDeleteYou look all so happy on that family picture. And I'm glad the cold (though not fun) kept you focused on simplicity and you got to enjoy Christmas.
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