Making a New House a Home for the Holidays
Since when can the woman of the house DO IT ALL? It is enough to juggle schedules for all the kids, keeping shirts on their backs, socks on their feet, and lunches in their packs, but fix the house up for the holidays, do the Christmas shopping, pick up the extra things husband wants to give at work, and baking cookies for school parties, and church functions, and helping the kids learn their lines for the Christmas play, and keeping the dishes cycling through the cabinets...all that, too? Mother never gets time for herself, it seems. All the experts tell us to MAKE the time, but we can't do that when it would mean that one of the kids would be disappointed or dad would feel neglected! But you know what? There IS a place in time and space for today's wonder-mom-wife. There really IS a time/space where the daily duties don't follow unless invited, and mom can drink in a refreshment so wonderful that it seems it can't be true!
This place is a wonderland for sure. And it's available for anyone who truly desires to find it. Access there is easy and free, and no one puts on any demands. After visiting there, returning to life's cares lack strain and there seems to be a new confidence within.
This place is God's presence. His presence is a cloud of Love enveloping body, mind, and spirit. It is a shower of peace in gentle droplets washing away anxieties of the day. It is a gentle stream of Living Water which gives the thirsty the refreshment nothing else in life can give. Mom wishes to languish in this place, but she knows she must return to her hearth, put the groceries away, and take the roast out to thaw. But upon reentry, there is a newness of life, and joy seems to fill all that surrounds her. It is the presence of God. He has blessed His beloved. She will return.
The holidays have a way of being misshapen and abused by the world. Being in God's presence brings new light and gentleness to the holidays. His blessing is more a requirement for today's times than ever. Mom's peace settles the home's hearth, and makes it a warm glow for when the family returns from the business of the day. Husband and children warm up in its glow and know a peace they never had outside. It was all God's idea! Too bad humankind gets in the way, pushing out the Beauty and Loveliness that is God. But nevermind, Mom drinks again and her family rejoices inside their souls, their spirits being renewed for a time. It's wonderful. It's so wonderful.