The Holiday Rush

Pat Davids here.
Heavens, it's the second of November already.
Yikes.
The HOLIDAYS are coming!! The HOLIDAYS are coming!!

If you are like many people, myself included, you may find yourself running in circles like a nutty chicken as the holiday season rushes closer and closer. Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to happen. You can shop for Christmas gifts all year long. You don't have to wait until Dec 23 to hit the stores. You can bake goodies and freeze them in September. You can wrap presents before Christmas Eve. It is possible to have a sane holiday.

But I ask you, where is the fun in that?

I LOVE the holiday rush.

I adore shopping at the speed of light the week before Christmas. Mad wrapping with only an hour to go is the only way I know how to wrap. Scotch tape stuck in rows along the edge of the dinning room table, lost scissors, creative cutting to make that last roll of paper cover everything, that's Christmas prep for me.

I used to cook a lot, but hey, someone needs to support the bakers at the supermarket. They make good stuff, too. Yes, I've done the whole clove and pineapple covered ham with brownsugar glaze and it was great. I may do it again when the spirit moves me. I'm not lazy. I'd just rather do other things. Like drive my family around to look at the Christmas lights and decorate the tree beside my grandkids as I tell stories about each ornament and how they came to adorn our tree. After all, when I'm gone, I want the stories to live on.

Life is about choices. Make the choices that make the holidays what they should be.

Thanksgiving is about celebrating the bounty in our lives and giving thanks for our family and friends.
Don't forget to help the less fortunate. Not everyone's life is good. Make yours better by helping someone else. That warm glow in your heart will be better than any hot spiced cider can give you.

Christmas isn't about the perfect gifts, it's about giving. God gave a tiny baby to the world so that we might be saved. Let's not forget to be thankful for His gift as we open our not quite perfectly wrapped packages. Love is what makes the holiday special.

The HOLIDAYS are coming!! The HOLIDAY are coming!!

I'm getting ready for the rush. Are you a planner or a rusher? What makes you that way?

4 comments:

Reese Mobley said...

No surprise here but I'm a planner and a rusher. I make lists. I shop all year. But then I still have to rush out at the last minute to get just one more thing for just one more person. I can't help it. It's just who I am and I don't really see me changing. At least not this year.

Rox Delaney said...

I do a lot of online ordering and let my youngest wrap presents and decorate the tree. She really enjoys it, and it takes the pressure off of me, so we're both happy.

Joan Vincent said...

I'm usually a planner but this year it will definitely be a rush job to get Christmas under the tree by the 25th!

Melissa Robbins said...

Pat, your comment about tape on the table and the wrapping paper made me laugh. I'm like that.


Recently, I felt that way about Halloween. "Halloween is coming! Halloween is coming!"

I'm a planner and started costumes for my four kids in September. I still found myself waking up at 5 am Halloween morning, not to write, but to sew the tails I forgot to finish.

For Christmas this year, I putting out my village houses early (I hope my two year old leaves them alone this year.) and I already bought some gifts from Santa.