As I was cooking and cleaning and wrapping presents on Christmas Eve morning I was frustrated with the fact that I had 

1 -waited until the last minute to finish everything up

 2- been so busy that Christmas had gotten here so quickly and I hadn’t done everything Martha Stewart would have 

3- I was frustrated that I was frustrated.  

I “knew” that Christmas wasn’t about having a house that Pottery Barn would photo, or a meal that would make Rachael Ray proud or presents wrapped with perfect bows, but that was my focus that morning.  I finally stopped be snippy, took a deep breath decided I was going to ENJOY being busy.  God brought to my mind all the people who would love to have a house to clean, food to prepare, and presents to wrap.  I thought of  exhausted, worried parents sitting by a child’s bed in a hospital and hearing my little angels fight didn’t seem so frustrating.  I thought of elderly people sitting by the window in the nursing home waiting for someone to come by and decided a houseful of family sounded nice.  I thought of the couples broken by divorce and I cherished my husband a little more.  I wish I could say I stopped all the craziness completely and got my focus intently on Jesus but I did gain a new perspective.  I did continue to clean and cook and wrap but I did it with a joy that I had lost a few hours before.  The house wasn’t spotless and most of the presents didn’t have bows but Mama was happy and you know what happens when Mama ain’t happy . . .

Hope everyone else had a great Christmas and enjoyed the season of life God has blessed you with no matter how crazy it seems at the time.  Sometimes you just have to breath and let God give you a new perspective.