Taking My Own Advice... Or Not, As The Case May Be

Ok, so a few weeks ago, I admonished the rest of you not to try to do it all in preparing for Advent this year... and then I completely ignored my own words, and tried to do it all.

In addition to DH's travel (he's gone again this week), buying a new car, and negotiating with the network over the reality tv thing, I'm still homeschooling, laundry-washing, grocery-buying, and so on. Oh, and yeah... I realized just the other day that Thanksgiving is next week... and we are hosting DH's family.

So, I freaked. It's bound to happen, right?

I've spent the past few days getting organized. The kids' rooms have been cleaned and de-cluttered. The house has been picked up again (at least the main level is still in pretty good shape, just needs the daily maintenance). I've bought everything we need for Thanksgiving, and nearly everything I need for Advent by Candlelight (the Sunday after Thanksgiving). I've been shopping online and made a significant dent in my holiday list. And I've started the master list designed to get me through these next 6 weeks without freaking out (again).

I am scheduled to go to Vision of Peace on Sunday afternoon, and stay until late morning on Tuesday. Originally, I planned to bring all sorts of projects to work on. Then, I planned to spend part of Monday Christmas shopping, using Vision of Peace for my home base. But now, I think I'll do neither. What I most need right now is quiet, solitude and prayer. Especially prayer.

I have several books waiting for me to read them. I know I need a nap or three. And my poor, neglected body is craving the feel of pavement and the rush of cool air... so I'm certain there is a run or two in there. And that's about it, I think. My calm before the rush of the holidays.

And hopefully, the rush of this week, the master list, and all that I am accomplishing now will allow me to enter prayerfully into Advent and to take that season more gently, more rightly-focused, and more patiently than I've tackled November.

One can always hope, right?