MOMents

The Christmas card... I had been stressing about the annual family Christmas card for weeks. We hadn't scheduled the Thanksgiving family photo session and it was almost getting too late.

Our family photographer moved away and we haven't replaced her. To be honest, family photos aren't my favorite. Outfits are stressful to find, someone's always missing their dress shoes, I inevitably have gone up a size and am usually dissatisfied my wardrobe choices. It also never fails that someone is always... always crabby. That someone is usually my son - love him - but for some reason when we come to the happy smiles moment of picture taking he turns disagreeable which makes mom disagreeable and I inevitably end up wondering why, on God's green earth, we chose to endure it again.

This year... As the days clicked closer to Christmas. As we scheduled the day to pick up the Christmas tree and started to say yes to Christmas invitations I started to doubt our card world get done. I was resenting the day scheduled for perfect clothes and smiles forced between threats of impending doom if we didn't get the attitude right.

Then it hit me... I am trying to create a MOMent, something that "mom" comes up with. Manufactured time, manufactured memories... I was manufacturing moments.

Our card shouldn't be manufactured moments. A fixed fake smile... A picture at a location we have never been before and may never go again... Nope... Our card should contain smiles that were genuine, moments that were breath-taking, show and share our joy and be a reflection of this year for us.

So that is what we have done... I scrolled through my phone and the "shared" photo file of my bestfriend and pulled out the real moments.

The quiet solitude of my daughter looking at smooth rocks in the lake. The sun-kissed joyful smile of a son-"selfie". The sun setting over the lake at Thanksgiving and a driftwood sculpture I came across while on a stroll.

Moments that matter, moments that mean something.

This Christmas my personal focus has been to slow down, to see people all around. To see everything from the perspective that Christ would have. To focus on the moments that matter and fade out the ones that don't... Letting go of the "MOMents" to see the real moments in everything.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for quieter days, thank you for lazy afternoons... Thank you for lake trips and warm campfires. We have been blessed beyond measure this year and I thank you for personal reminders to stop, slow down and not get caught up in all the madness of the things on the to do list. Thank you for the blessing of real memories, tangible heart-felt moments... For your son... The ultimate peace on earth. Amen

I am so thankful for this season.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!