She's Making A List And Checking It Twice

Have they hit yet? The Christmas Crazies?

You KNOW what I mean, right?

That point in the Christmas season where you think you might lose your mind. When one more thing to do or remember that is forced into your brain might just make your head explode.

For me it usually hits when I realize that my kids only have a couple more days of school and all the things I wanted to accomplish BEFORE they are home on Christmas break haven't been completed.

Bottom line.....STRESS!

I really think that no matter how hard we try to keep the true meaning of Christmas, the coming of Christ, at the forefront, there is still bound to be some stress.

* Parties to attend

* Gifts to buy

* Cards to send out

* Goodies to bake

* Church events and responsibilities

And all of this on top of all the other things we normally do that keep our home running smoothly....like grocery shopping, laundry, homework, etc.

So this is the point where I start making lists. Gifts lists, shopping lists, Christmas card lists, daily menus, "To Do" lists. It's what keeps me sane. And then of course there's that feeling of accomplishment when I can check something off one of my lists. Sometimes that's the biggest benefit!

So if you're starting to feel stressed, stop, take a breath, and try making some lists to help you feel better organized.

There also comes a point for me every year, when I realize that there are going to be some things that I would like to do that just aren't going to happen. Sometimes we just have to lower our expectations. Maybe that one last new cookie recipe that we wanted to try just isn't going to get made. Or that one craft we really wanted to try with the kids just isn't going to happen.

It's time to think about those things that, realistically, just aren't going to get done. And what on my list of things to do, doesn't really matter in the long run or isn't worth stressing over to try and check off my list.

One thing I've done over the years is to have a couple pre-determined things that are the first thing to go off my list. For me that's Christmas cards. Some years they get sent, and some they don't. This year, I just so happened to get a decent picture of the kids over Thanksgiving weekend so I quickly ordered cards online and got them sent out. But if I don't, I don't. And I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

The other conscious decision I've made is to not bake cookies.

 I know.....GASP!

 The first couple years we were married, I baked a lot. I still get teased by my family a little because I used to make Martha Stewart's homemade marshmallows. But it all started to feel like just a job that had to be done. And quite honestly....if I made the cookies, I ATE the cookies! So for several years I didn't make anything and now we just make the Almond Toffee that we mostly give away.

So if YOU'RE starting to feel the Christmas Crazies, try making some lists to help you feel more organized. But maybe more importantly, cut yourself some slack. Think about what is most important for you and your family to have a memorable, yet peaceful Christmas. And MOST importantly, be reminded about what we are truly celebrating....the birth of our Savior.

Which reminds me of some of the words of the Steven Curtis Chapman song, "Christmas Is All In The Heart"....

No, it's not in the snow
That may or may not fall
And it's not in the gifts
Around the tree
It's in the love heaven gave
The night our Savior came
And that same love
Can still be found where ever you are
'Cause Christmas is all in the heart
It's all in the heart

Have a great day!

What's In A Name?

A blog name to be exact.
I thought you might be interested to know how I chose the title.

Keeper

I wanted it to be about what I do and what is really important to me. A few months after The Hubster and I were married, we determined that it would be possible for me to not have to work outside the home. I was delighted! My Mom had always stayed home with my sister and me and it was what I always wanted to do. Although I went to college for four years and got my nursing degree, I had no career aspirations but to be a wife and mother and take care of our home....just as my mom had done.

But at that time, we were still without children. So, in our culture in this day, I was a rarity. Few women made the decision to not work outside the home unless they had small children. I got a lot of, "What do you DO all day?" I started to think about what my "title" really was. I really disliked the term "homemaker." It just seemed to have such negative connotations in our society.

At one point, during a women's Bible study, I was reminded of Paul's teaching in Titus 2:3-5.

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Do you see that phrase "busy at home?" In other versions of the Bible it says....

 "working at home" 

"managing their home"

"fulfilling their duties at home"

But my favorite was from the good ol' King James Version....and maybe only because it was the way I first heard it as a child....

"keeper at home"

On The Narrow Way

This part was easy....well, easy to chose as part of a blog title, but hard to do. It comes from Matthew 7:13-14.

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

As a follower Of Christ, I am urged to take the narrow road in life....the harder, less-traveled road....because it is the one that leads to life. And in my role as this "keeper" of my home, I need to follow the narrow way as well. Even if it's not what everyone else is doing.

Still

Once upon a time, there was a blog called Keeping On The Narrow Way. It was mostly something I did for fun. It started out as a way to share about what was going on in our family. At one point it became a blog about my love of digital scrapbooking. It has sat deserted for a couple years now. When I decided I wanted to do this blog thing for real, I knew I was going to have to start from scratch. But I was married to the name, thus the "still" was added. Because even after all these years this is what I want my life to be about.

There.....now you know what's in THIS name.