Who stole my Christmas joy?

I had my lists, yes lists, written. All the things I needed to accomplish before my surgery on the 12th of December. As you can imagine, on the 11th I still had several items to mark off. Decorating, baking cookies, make the candies, and wrapping the gifts, all jumped off the lists at me. "What about me? I need to be done and scratched off. I'm very important, you have to do me!"

I literally pulled my hair. There weren't enough hours left to finish everything. I rushed around, stressed, tripping over my own feet.

Now a week after my surgery and a week before Christmas, several of those items are still screaming at me as I sit chair-bound.

I did the only thing I could do. I prayed.

God is always faithful, honest. He said what I needed to hear. "What is Christmas really all about?" I sighed and pulled out my erasure and dismissed several of those loud and unnecessary joy thieves.

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Now my husband is decorating the house. Then he will bake the cookies, but not the candies that were demanding my time and attention.

Many "important" items will NOT be done this and possibly next year. What a good time to set-up new and better priorities.

The old lists are gone and I wrote a new one based on the important things—the true reason for the season, family and friends.

Soon our family will be here and we will celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My joy returned as soon as I tore up those pesky lists!

What about you? What takes your joy during the Christmas season?