Wow! I love the feedback I've gotten about my bucket list of 42 dreams I posted on my birthday! Sydonyia, I hope to take you up on your invitation to PEI someday!!! And when I finally go to Europe, I hope to blow bubbles off the Eiffel Tower :o) That would be so me, right?!?
The only thing left from our Christmas decorations are two presents on the piano bench for Michael's friends, AnnaBeth and Eva and the glass containers of gold ornament balls on the mantle. I wasn't ready to put everything away yet, but when a five-year-old child bumps into the Christmas tree... Exactly! That's what I said, too!
A few days ago (pre-birthday), Krista and I were snuggling on the couch having a deep conversation when Michael came down from his nap (yes, he is still taking naps even though he's now begging to "skip" his nap!). He saw us on the couch and wanted to join us so he leaped onto Krista (THUNK! then OUCH!). When he started slipping off, he tried to pull Krista off the couch with him. Instead, he bounced off and bumped into the Christmas tree knocking it over completely! (I'm sure it must have been comical to watch Krista and I jump off the couch after we saw the tree and a shattered ornament!)
Surprisingly, only one glass ornament (one of Krista's cupcake ones) shattered to pieces. I can't believe the others survived as well as they did! A few other Hallmark ornaments broke (it seems like all the Tweety ones) but I think they can be repaired with some Tacky glue...hopefully!
Krista and I put away all the ornaments. The day after, I put away all the stockings, the tealights and the greenery from the mantle. Michael helped me put away our Fisher-Price Little People Nativity Set (I love that set!!!). It was sad putting away the other porcelain Advent Nativity set, the Christmas lamp and the Flannel Advent Calendar from Indonesia (this was our first year using it and the whole concept is brilliant and so much fun for Michael!!!). I'm sure we would have put everything away by this weekend (removing the tree sure expanded our living area!), though. Good-bye, Christmas decorations, but Hello, space!
I'm finding that as much as I love having the Christmas decorations up, I'm loving the open space and the lack of extra things out more! Sometimes, as believers, we get "stuck" in the past. We might miss what we had before like financial security, old habits, etc. But when you "clear" out the clutter, the possibilities are endless, aren't they?!?
I love how the NLT puts Isaiah 43:19: "For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."
I encourage you to let go of what you had in "Egypt" (this represents the past like when the Israelites were moving toward the Promise Land after being slaves in Egypt!) and reach out for the new thing God is doing in your life!
