The Gift of Time

This Christmas season I can't help but think of the greatest gift, Gods son being born as a baby and the excitment that it brought. Of course before I was married if an angel of The Lord came to me saying I would bear a son I would have been a little freaked out. When I think of the Christmas story I can't help but think of time. Maybe a little odd that is what comes to mind but bear with me....

Time is the greatest gift we can ever give. Thinking about the time it took for Mary and Joseph to travel in "bible time" overwhelms me. Not to mention traveling  on a donkey or by foot that far is something I wouldn't want to do, especially being mego preggo. And then the time the wise men and shepherds took to travel to see baby Jesus and the time they spent with him. 

Time is a valuable gift we give others. Growing up my parents always had "coffee time" after dinner. My brother and I weren't allowed to bother them unless there was blood or fire. It was that quality time they spent together that modeled for my brother and I the importance of relationship. Their example and the way they guarded that time for each other showed us that their relationship was important.

Time doesn't cost much but could be the most valuable gift we give the people we love. Andy and I meet for coffee and to go over our calendars together. It's like our own family staff meeting where we talk about upcoming youth events, brainstorm ideas and connect as a couple. We need to get in a regular habit of having date nights but life seems to always get in the way. I think the busyness of ministry and lack of babysitter funds are excuses that prevent us from spending kid free time together. We need to fix that in 2014! 

One of the things I am most grateful for are the mommy warriors The Lord has placed in my life this year. We try to get together every couple of weeks to connect and hold each other accountable. This is a gift I give myself. I still fight the mommy guilt but know that I am a better mommy because of the time I spend with these ladies. 

Every night before putting addyson to bed we spend time together as a family. We laugh and read stories. Some nights we read from Addyson's devotion bible or "Jesus Calling for kids". But every night we pray together. This is the thing I look forward to most each day. Because it doesn't matter what the day holds I know that at the end of the day I will spend time with my two favorite people.

I'm 13 days into my core challenge. I have absolutely loved not being on Facebook. I wouldn't say I love the physical part of the core challenge but I am able to hold a plank for 1 minute. The goal is at the end of the month to hold it for 5 minutes. Ouch!!! Detoxing from Facebook has forced me to spend more time engaged in reality and I feel so much better for it. I love moments of tea parties, coloring and reading books with Addyson. Not that I didn't do that before or can't do those things with Facebook in my life but I feel so much more present in the moment instead of being consumed with what others are doing, look like and have. 

So in the days that lead up to Christmas I would challenge you to make time for  people. Spend quality time with the people who mean the most to you and  make memories. For me it means focusing the attention on others and not my own fears. I want to be so fully preset in the moment that the OCD monster can't rear it's ugly head this Christmas. I want to give the people I love the gift of my time. I want to give myself the gift of being fully present in the moment with my family.