2014 Redfield Family Christmas Letter

So... my stupid blog won't let me post pictures today.  Or ever anymore, really.  I should really look into that.  But today, no time :) So I will lead you from here back on over to Facebook, where I have posted the story of our year in a photo album with ridiculously long captions.  Because when you have a kid as cute as Libby... what good is any kind of letter without pictures? :)


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152916708944493.1073741839.597294492&type=1&l=26eec71b72


Merry, merry Christmas, dear ones!


"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:14

Just Breathe

The crazy started last week Wednesday.  The CURRENT round of continuous crazy, that is. It really seems in life that the crazy never ends, but we just trudge through an endless parade of slightly crazy, frazzled crazy, and CRAZY crazy.

So last Wednesday, we got an early morning snowfall that I had no clue was coming. I never take the time to check the weather, becauseI know if we’re getting anything major, my mother, who is glued to her weather app, will alert me to the initial forecast, any changes in the forecast, and then text me multiple times to make sure we’re all okay.  My mommy loves me :)

So Wednesday was, of course, Libby’s OT (occupational therapy), which is a 45-minute drive one-way on GOOD roads.  We also had shopping to do.  Three stores, four if we could work it out.  And we HAD to be home by 11:30 for workout.  We made it home by noon.  Oh, well :) Work out with Emily.  Eat lunch.  Make pounds and pounds of mashed potatoes, both sweet and traditional.  Fold the laundry.  Pay the bills.  Sweep up the dog hair.  Do it again a couple hours later because the dogs are idiots who keep shedding even though it is FRIGID outside.   Return e-mails to the bank, realtor, and insurance agent because we chose a completely ridiculous time of year to close on our house.  Finalize the Christmas card list.  Stew a little bit, because at some point this YEAR we really, really need to go meet with our new accountant and get ourselves in order before tax “season” begins, and time is slip-slip-slipping away.  Don’t actually DO anything about that issue, but do a few other things I can’t remember.  Also play with the baby.  Read books, push her in the swing, sing some silly songs, keep her fed, keep her happy.

I won’t bore you with my play-by-play of the rest of the week.  It was the same as any other week, except I *think* there was a national holiday in there? I kind of missed it.  Cooking, cleaning, working (plus 10 EXTRA hours on top of my normal schedule), shopping, working out, mothering, football-watching, and sleeping whenever possible.   Life is life.  It’s ALWAYS crazy, and extra-crazy as November sprints into December and we all steamroll our way through the cookies and tinsel and wrapping and massive migraines.

Fast-forward one week to Wednesday of a new week.  The day before had been JUST awful.  My mood, usually uplifted before lunch when I get my Insanity endorphin-rush, had just declined throughout the day from poor to sour to abysmal.  Wednesday started off JUST as well when I overslept for work by an hour and a half, but actually turned into a fabulously productive day when Libby showed herself to be in desperate need of an all-morning nap, and we got to stay home from the three-hour ordeal of OT and GET. STUFF. DONE.  Check, check, check.  New week, same story.  Christmas cards are now in the addressing phase.  Bills may have gotten paid last week, but the checkbook needs re-balancing again because Cyber Monday. More e-mails about the house.  More fretting about taxes (STILL no appointment made).  Dogs are still shedding. I’m still surviving on coffee. Blah blah blah.

One thing was different this week.  While last Wednesday was nothing but Mashed Potato Making Night, this Wednesday is the First Wednesday of Advent.  There’s church tonight! I am actually pretty excited, because I haven’t been to an evening advent service in YEARS.  We didn’t have them at our previous church.  And they are SO needed in the mad rush of December.  Just that one extra hour of peace and calm makes all the difference in the world. And so I rushed even more, and pushed even harder, because I had a deadline.  Libby had to be fed and pajamafied by 6:50 so we could make it to church on time.  Okay, so I didn’t get a shower, and the dogs’ supper had to wait, and zero dishes got done yesterday, but by 6:54 I was grabbing the keys and we were ready to go.

“Libby, let’s go to church, sweetie!” I announced as I lifted her from her high chair.  She grinned an adorable little grin, because church means music, and music is good. I pulled her carseat blanket over her head, and pulled her pajama sleeves over the cuffs of her mittens, because if I don’t she WILL pull off her mittens in the 28 seconds it takes us to drive to church.  I jingled my keys so she would know we were going somewhere in the car, and stepped out the door into a breathtakingly cold December night.

She gasped when the cold hit her face.  I thought she might cry, so I hustled to her car door.  Surprisingly, I heard giggles as I plopped her in her carseat. “What’s so funny, you silly girl? Are you excited for church?” Giggle, giggle. “CHURCH?” Giggle, GIGGLE.

I did some good thinking during those 28 seconds it took us to drive a block and a half to church.  I could learn SO MUCH from this kid.  Church is literally the highlight of her day.  I mean, I was excited, but she was EXCITED to go to worship.  Church is IT.  Her entire day was MADE by the fact that she got to leave the house and we went to church.  It’s so simple, really.  Why can’t my life be that simple?

Well, it can.  It doesn’t HAVE to be as complicated as I make it.  Yes, the list goes on and on, but that list will ALWAYS be there.  And it might not all get done, but that’s happened before, and we all survived.  Laundry doesn’t have to be folded before it’s worn again.  Sometimes it’s okay to just order a pizza for dinner .  The Christmas tree does not have to be all Pinterest fabulous this year:  1) because I don’t even Pinterest, and  2) because maybe I don’t even feel like putting it up at ALL this year and that’s okay .  It’s ALL okay. 

The one thing that is NOT okay, no matter what time of year it is, is losing that childlike wonder and joy when it is time to worship our Savior and Lord, whether it be an advent service, a family devotion, or a prayer to start the day.  THAT is where all my crazy begins – when I neglect the one source of true peace in my life. The Daily List may seem impossibly long and wildly unattainable, but it’s amazing how the rest of that stuff gets check, check, checked off some much more easily and joyfully when FIRST I make time for the one thing that is TRULY needful.

So today is Thursday.  The List is still there.  I need to get my butt to the Post Office today and buy stamps so I can get these Christmas cards MAILED.  It’s already December FOURTH, people, and I want this project off my kitchen table.  I want to get some painting done in the Packer basement, the dogs brushed so maybe they stop shedding so much, and my craft and sewing boxes finally unpacked (WHY this week do I feel the need to suddenly get this done?) I’m feeling energetic and motivated today.  I just know I’m going to crush it today.  I mean, I blogged already and it’s not even 10:00.  THAT is how great of a day it’s going to be.

But first, let me take a page out of Libby’s book.  Let’s start this day off with some time with Jesus.  I might not giggle and nod my head fervently as she does when I ask if she wants to read Baby Bible (well, I could try)… but I KNOW I will be filled up with everything I am lacking, and my awesome day will just be that much awesomer.  Just breathe, Mama.  Just breathe and keep it simple.