Christmas decorations and music are now allowed (according to Lewis Law).
That will make more sense to you if you read last week’s post. Even if you didn’t, it’s pretty easy to figure out.
We’ve been properly thankful and have followed up with shopping for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals just to show how thankful we are.
So now we are really for a free-for-all of shopping, hall-decking, music-ing and shaming everyone who says “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” (I’m completely not serious about that last one).
Mrs. Sweetie and I just spent the whole Thanksgiving week in the Texas panhandle with our kids and grands. Few things make me more thankful than several days of eating and being Dad and Grandpa.
They are all coming to see us during the Christmas break, so I’m getting started soon with the decorating, house cleaning, and meal planning.
Housecleaning is the most difficult of all those because I am apparently a mess! Sweetie is not, and no one else lives here, so …
Meal planning will be fun because I love to cook for my family.
The Christmas decorating is relatively minimalistic. We have a couple of small vintage aluminum Christmas trees with classic lighted color wheels. Add to that the Sweetie-made quilted stockings with each person’s name embroidered on theirs (she’s pretty awesome) and that’s about it for the decorating.
The idea of decorating is what I’m pondering today. There’s an old Kenny Rogers song that came to mind: “You Decorated My Life” (1979).
It’s one thing to have a purposefully decorated living space. Some people put a lot of time, money, and effort into that.
But I’m pondering today a purposefully decorated life.
When I look at the “decor” of my life, I recognize that there are amazing things that were put there that I never could have imagined.
The Master Artistic Designer—has decorated me with a family faith heritage, undeserved and un-envisioned experiences, a partner for life whose attributes I can’t praise enough, children and grandchildren, friends who make me better, I could go on and on about how I have been decorated.
The Master Artistic Designer—has decorated me with a family faith heritage, undeserved & un-envisioned experiences, a partner for life whose attributes I can’t praise enough, children & grandchildren, friends who make me… Share on XBut I’m also thinking about how I choose to decorate my life—the visible things that reveal who I really am and what matters most to me. These “decorations” come to mind:
BLESSINGS. I don’t mean blessings received; I mean blessings delivered. I want to BE a blessing to every person I encounter. If they leave me impressed but not blessed, I’ve decorated poorly.
GRACE. I’ve messed up. So has everyone else. I want every person I encounter to know that I will not hold a grudge if I happen to catch them on their worst day. I never want anyone to avoid me because of what they did the last time they saw me.
JOY. These are tough days. No, they are not the toughest days in history, but they are some of the toughest days in recent history. These are also amazing days to be alive because of what the challenges make possible. I want to be known more for my laughter and optimism than my critiques and complaints.
RESPECT. Every person who has ever lived is created in the image of God. Every person who has ever lived is loved by God so much that He came to us in the flesh as a baby in Bethlehem. How can I disrespect those whom God loves so completely?
RESPECT. Every person who has ever lived is created in the image of God. Every person who has ever lived is loved by God so much that He came to us as a baby in Bethlehem. How can I disrespect those God loves so completely? Share on XThat’s not my whole list of decorations, but it’s a good starting place for you to begin thinking about your own.
What’s on your list?
Be amazing today, my friend
