Saturday Evening Post
It's the end of a busy day and I am spent. It's good to sit quietly, enjoying the gentle ticking of the wall clock and the hum of my laptop. In the background the indefinable sounds of a TV program filter in from the next room.
The fragrance of my pomegranate candle fills the room. Susan, who gave it to me last Christmas, hinted last week that the plastic that still surrounded the candle was supposed to come off. I thought it was meant to hold it in shape. She took matters into her own hands on Tuesday and removed it anyway, saying that leaving it on was like leaving the plastic covering on a new couch and she couldn't stand it any more. Suddenly the perfume was more distinct; she must have been right.
The Christmas tree has not come down from the attic yet, but any day now it will and I think I'm ready to "take it on." It's time to surrender to the season!
On Thursday one big Christmas thing was done--picking up the chocolate letters from the Dutch store. I buy over 100 of them and make an Excel spreadsheet to make sure I get the right number of each letter. It's a Christmas tradition for me to celebrate my Dutch heritage by giving these to friends and family.
I needed a dress for a special occasion; "Christmas at the Castle," at Casa Loma. On Thursday, I was on my way home from a meeting in Newmarket and thought that I would stop by the mall to see if I could find one. I dreaded the thought really, of going into the mall, and I thought that I would quickly pop into Still in Style, a consignment store, first; just in case there was something there that would work. I got there with 15 minutes before closing time. I headed for the "dressy dresses" rack, and there was a beautiful long, dark green satin skirt, with a matching top, with exactly the neckline and look that I had seen in my mind's eye. I tried it on--it fit and looked lovely. The price was very right, so I bought it and left with five minutes to spare!
I talked to a friend who is Roman Catholic that evening, and he mentioned celebrating Advent; the expectant waiting for the coming of the Saviour that starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The peace and expectancy of Advent contrasted in spirit with the dread and panic that seems to overtake me as the snowball of the season gathers momentum and size.
Is it possible to dodge the snowball? I'm hoping that it is. I want to remember the reason for Christmas and reflect on all that it meant when Jesus was born in that stark, cold stable over 2000 years ago.
1 John 4:9-10 (New International Version)
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
The fragrance of my pomegranate candle fills the room. Susan, who gave it to me last Christmas, hinted last week that the plastic that still surrounded the candle was supposed to come off. I thought it was meant to hold it in shape. She took matters into her own hands on Tuesday and removed it anyway, saying that leaving it on was like leaving the plastic covering on a new couch and she couldn't stand it any more. Suddenly the perfume was more distinct; she must have been right.
The Christmas tree has not come down from the attic yet, but any day now it will and I think I'm ready to "take it on." It's time to surrender to the season!
On Thursday one big Christmas thing was done--picking up the chocolate letters from the Dutch store. I buy over 100 of them and make an Excel spreadsheet to make sure I get the right number of each letter. It's a Christmas tradition for me to celebrate my Dutch heritage by giving these to friends and family.
I needed a dress for a special occasion; "Christmas at the Castle," at Casa Loma. On Thursday, I was on my way home from a meeting in Newmarket and thought that I would stop by the mall to see if I could find one. I dreaded the thought really, of going into the mall, and I thought that I would quickly pop into Still in Style, a consignment store, first; just in case there was something there that would work. I got there with 15 minutes before closing time. I headed for the "dressy dresses" rack, and there was a beautiful long, dark green satin skirt, with a matching top, with exactly the neckline and look that I had seen in my mind's eye. I tried it on--it fit and looked lovely. The price was very right, so I bought it and left with five minutes to spare!
I talked to a friend who is Roman Catholic that evening, and he mentioned celebrating Advent; the expectant waiting for the coming of the Saviour that starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The peace and expectancy of Advent contrasted in spirit with the dread and panic that seems to overtake me as the snowball of the season gathers momentum and size.
Is it possible to dodge the snowball? I'm hoping that it is. I want to remember the reason for Christmas and reflect on all that it meant when Jesus was born in that stark, cold stable over 2000 years ago.
1 John 4:9-10 (New International Version)
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Comments
Thank you for sharing those thoughts about Christmas. I struggle so much through it too and sometimes just don't know how to approach it all. I found something really helpful called "Advent Conspiracy" online and it has some great ideas about how to celebrate Jesus' birth in a meaningful way. If you click on some of their gift ideas, they're creative, not wasteful and focussed on relationship, not just more stuff.
There's also something neat you can get called a Jesse Tree that I learned about on Holy Experience. Just different ideas for this busy, secularized time of year.
Thank you for the great post. The dress sounds fabulous. Have fun.
Love Ang
I checked out Advent Conspiracy. It's a great movement. Belinda
For anyone interested in Holy Experience, it can be found at http://holyexperience.blogspot.com/