Not what I expected

Do you ever have these expectations for a certain event or season or day and find that your expectations were so far off the mark of what actually transpired? 

Last year our Christmas season was amazing.  I think it met pretty much ALL of my expectations and then some.  Somehow.  Not sure how.  Our Christmas day was one of my very favorites.

And perhaps it is because of the fabulous success of last year that this year I am feeling a little less Christmas-y.

Don't get me wrong.  I am enjoying this time with my family.  And perhaps the three teeth I had pulled last Monday, the two weeks of tooth ache prior and the recovery this following week have naturally dampened my spirits and hindered my ability to be as active about things this year.

But still.  We're having fun.  Mary and Joseph have moved slowly around the house and while there have been a few nights that Mary wasn't feeling well enough for travel (ie I completely forgot about them) they have amused the kids with some of their antics.  Last night they ran into a giant stop sign.  Last week they spent time playing a card game and another night read a Christmas book about Santa.

We managed to get out and do a few little light em ups a couple of weekends ago passing out a few candy canes and taping quarters to a little snack center at our local grocery store.

We had a really fun and magical Polar Express movie night this past weekend. 

And so it's not that I can't find the magic and fun times we've had this season.  I think it's more that it doesn't feel constantly like Christmas is coming.

I'm feeling the time crunch when I realized last night that Christmas is only a week away!  I have capes to finish and a quiet book to finish and I haven't wrapped a single gift yet.  One week!  I'm not ready.  I'm not ready for the Christmas season to be over.  I'm really really not ready.  It's not what I expected.

But it has been blessed and really in the end it's not about how I feel.  It's about how Jesus came into our world.  For the sole purpose of dying to save us from ourselves.  From our sin, our ideals, our expectations.  He wasn't what people were expecting either but He turned out to be pretty darn spectacular and so likewise I have a feeling this remaining week of the Christmas season will do the same.