Those In-between Things

I love this time of year. It's when I do some yearly fun chores that only come at this season. Yesterday, I went through all of my receipts from Christmas as well as the whole year of '09. All got looked at, ripped, and tossed. That felt good. Then I took my old calendar where I keep track on the back each time someone has a birthday, and transferred them all to my new calendar, so there won't be any misses.

Another thing I like to do is to go through my closets and make sure all is in order and I have everything I need for the next few months.

I yearn to clean up the Christmas ornaments and have a sparse, clean home for awhile, but I am still in a festive mood and I'm not ready to get rid of any of it yet. In a few weeks, I'll be right there.

The last thing I need to do is to write down my year. I have been doing this for quite some time now. Some years seem barren, like there was a long wasteland where nothing happened. I start by thinking back to the year's beginnings and add a few items. Always by the end, I find that I and my family have moved forward and a lot has indeed taken place. It is a wonderful thing to read these and see how faithful God has been to "crown the year with (His) goodness." Psalm 65:11

I also need to do a good long "CFO" letter, one of those letters from God I learned to do at a Christian family camp years ago. I have done short ones regularly, but I need at least a three pager. That's when things start to flow and are awesome to read in the future.

I haven't done resolutions for a long time, but this year, I would like to try to keep the spirit of Christmas all year long, and to remember to praise God in all things, as He has asked us to do. This has been such a sweet time for me and I don't want to lose my gem amid all the outside bustle. When I re-enter the routine, I want to take my treasures with me.

Next time, my thoughts on the New Year which I also love. Nancy