Advent Fail

The title really sums it up.  I had such great intentions this year.  Even my last blog post was about how I was trying to make more room for Jesus this year, more studies, more Christ-centered moments with my family, and it was going so well....until the week before Christmas.  I had to follow up b/c I felt guilty leaving that last post, and people reading this thinking that I had done so well.  Reality hit, as did the craziness of last minute Christmas stuff, and I had to post about that as well because from the beginning I said this was about the good and the bad.
I have to say, our Jesse tree devotional was going great, and the kids really enjoyed reading the stories starting with creation and leading to the birth of Jesus then hanging the ornament.  To be honest this was the one advent activity that lasted the longest for us.  Don't be fooled though.

On Christmas Eve when I took this picture of our completed Jesse Tree, we had done the last 4-5 all at once.  I thought, well at least we did it.  We limped across the finish line, but we finished it up.  Our family advent calendar, was for the most part done, just lacking in a few days, but one of them was our RACK (Random Act of Christmas Kindness), which bothered me.  Oh well, 3 out of 4 aren't bad, and we did get our cookies delivered the local fire station on Christmas Day.  Don't even get me started on my Advent Study I was to be reading.  Ugh, fail,
I was thinking the other day about what went wrong, where the distraction came in, and I realized that maybe it was too much.  Maybe simple is better.  We try and fill our holidays with so much magic and perfection that it can't possibly reach our own expectations.  I think about the first Christmas.  Mary and Joseph rode into Bethlehem on a donkey...a donkey!  Ladies can you even imagine?  Even sitting in my car which has shocks and comfy seats was no fun at that point in pregnancy.  Then they get to stay in a stable (translation - barn).  Once again, 9 months pregnant, just rode in on a donkey, and she gets to not only sleep, but also GIVE BIRTH in a barn on some hay (if she is lucky) with all kinds of animals around her.  It's a far cry from the deluxe suites and birthing rooms we have here.  Then Joseph is not only her lamaze coach, but also her OB and her nurse.  I would have been in so much trouble as my husband would have been passed out on the floor with some animal licking his face I am sure.  Pretty sure there wasn't any sterilized tools in the stable or ice chips for her to crunch on.  Once Jesus is born, he is wrapped in cloth and laid in a manger.  A manger where animals typical eat out of.  Just the thought makes this germaphob shudder.  She didn't even have any wipes to wipe it down with first (gasp)!  It's truly amazing that both Mary and Jesus (and possibly Joseph) even survived the whole experience!  Yet that is how our Savior entered the world, and that is all the magic and perfection that Christmas really needs.  We can try and fill it with activities, visits to Santa, making cookies and treats, gift buying, parties and such, but really all we need is the baby in the manger.
I am going to try (repeat try) to remember this next as I plan our Advent season.  Keep it simple. Yes we will still have fun, but not put so much stress upon myself to create this "perfect" Christmas for my family.  I can't because someone already did many.many years ago.  You cannot create what already exists.