It was a pretty typical Sunday morning in our house. I was rushing around trying to get all four
kids (and my husband) fed, cleaned up and dressed in time for mass. This particular Sunday, I had the added
stress of trying to coordinate everyone’s outfits so that we could take
pictures for our Christmas cards after church.
I was not in the best of moods as I searched every drawer
and laundry basket in the house for a missing pair of red leggings and tried to
find a shirt for my husband that didn’t clash with everyone else’s. The weather was not helping my mood
either. It was cloudy and looked like
rain. After checking the weather report
(it was supposed to start raining and be wet all day) I gave up on the idea of
pictures and frustratingly got everyone dressed in regular church clothes. We all headed off to mass with me annoyed
that we wouldn’t get our pictures today and I would have to wait to work on my
Christmas cards.
At mass, something happened to change my bad mood! During his homily, the priest talked about
all of the distractions of the holidays.
He called out the fact that we make so many plans during this time;
baking plans, party plans, shopping plans and so on but, we often forget to
make a spiritual plan. We forget to slow
down and pay attention to what we are supposed to be celebrating. We lose all of the joy and peace the season
of Christmas holds.
Well, in that moment, I felt like he was talking directly to
me! Just that morning I had let myself
get caught up in holiday distractions. I
was letting myself get worked up over matching outfits and Christmas card
pictures!
So, I decided to make some changes. I was going to go home and make a "spiritual plan" and cut out some of the distractions; one being to give up the idea of new pictures
for the cards. I thought about all of
the pictures I had taken throughout the year and decided I would just use
something we already had. Later that
day, I sat in front of the computer to find a picture for the card. I decided I would look in each folder from
the past year starting back in January.
What I found was wonderful. Every
folder held precious moments from throughout the year: Rapunzel’s first ballet
recital, our trip to Disney World and backyard smore making. There were pictures of things I had already
forgotten about. A rainy day of puddle
fun, my husband cuddled on the couch with the girls watching a football game, a
moment of laughter shared between sisters and so many more. I really was laughing and smiling all the way
as I relived the year through the photos.
We are just so busy all of the time. We take all of these pictures, put them on
the computer and then forget about them.
We let our business, our worries, and our bad days sweep us up. It is so easy to forget about all of the
smiles and special moments.
Especially in light of the tragic shootings of last Friday,
I am so grateful for every day with my family, every smile, every hug, every
giggle, even the not so good days; at least they are days spent together.
I think this will become a new tradition for me. I will take time at the end each year to
look back at all of our pictures and remind myself of how blessed I truly
am. I highly suggest you try it as well;
hopefully you will find yourself laughing all the way!(And the cards turned out pretty cute, keep scrolling down to check it out!)
