I know how you are feeling. I’ve been there. The noise of the holidays are upon us. It’s almost Christmas Eve Eve. The house is a wreck. One room is covered in wrapping paper, ribbon and presents. The dust is piling up on the whatnots and coffee table for yet another day. The dog is looking at you and you remind yourself to feed him before you go to bed. You’ve worked all day and now your sitting down to gather your thoughts. But suddenly the timer goes off, telling you the cookies are done. You jump up and pull that dozen out and slide in the next dozen. Your famous chocolate chip cookies EVERYONE always wants you to bring.

You rush back into the living room trying to remember what you were doing, when you hear a loud scream from down the hall. You nearly twist your ankle trying to get to you middle child’s room where the scream came from.

Flinging open the door reveals your 8 year old daughter staring down at her elf named Rosie who apparently has been involved in some kind of terrible accident. Rosie’s arm and one leg are laying silently a few feet away from the rest of her body. You lead your now sobbing daughter over to her bed and tuck her in reassuring her that Santa can fix ole Rosie right up.

You then go directly next door to confront the only person in your home that has the heart to maim and disfigure a little girls elf. And that’s her 10 year old brother.

Of course he is already in bed and snoring softly.

His angelic face tells a different story. A story that is stark opposite of the evidence. So you tuck him in and kiss his cheek and set about repairing the damaged elf.

Finally, nearing midnight you drag your weary body to bed. Dreading the early morning alarm that is assuredly going to go off right on time. You will spend your day washing, cleaning, cooking and wrapping. You’ll probably make an insanely mad dash to Walmart to pick up the last few items on your list and return home to finish the washing, cleaning, cooking and wrapping.

You’ll drag your weary body to bed(again) but this time there will be no alarm because you don’t actually make it to bed. You have forgotten that all of the many toys Santa is bringing need to be assembled and arranged. Cookies have to be eaten and letters written. Stockings have to be stuffed. In the wee morning hours of Christmas Day you lay your head down and feel the coolness of your pillow and just as your mind drifts to peace and tranquility you are jumped on by your long legged teenager who’s face still resembles the baby you carried on your hip.

He urges you to get up and come look what Santa brought as you hear your younger children squealing with delight at their gifts under the tree.

My letter to you is for this specific time….

Get up my friend, soak in every minute that you can while your kids are young. Pull yourself up and ignore your exhaustion. There will be time to sleep later. When the kids are grown and you’re wondering how it all slipped by so fast. In fifteen or twenty years you won’t be able to remember how tired you felt

but you will remember how your heart felt like it would almost burst with the joy, seeing their eyes light up or their toothless grin stretching from ear to ear.

So just stress all you want- the day will eventually end. Christmas will be a memory. Spring will come and soon another year will too. Life will always have stresses. But my friend it will always have joy too. Don’t let the stress weigh you down so that you don’t see and feel the joy. It’s what you will remember when the world quiets down.

Love Always