kristaphillips 
Every year as December settles into our lives, I stomp my foot, determined to ENJOY the Christmas season this year and not let the “stuff” around me get me down. (am I the only one who doesn’t think of Christmas as a DAY but instead as the whole time between Thanksgiving and December 25th?)
And every year the past few years, I’m only moderately successful.
But this year, we are determined as a family to ENJOY the Christmas season.
I’m praying HEALTH over my WHOLE family.
I’m finishing up a writing project this week then putting writing on the back burner for the month, only working on it in spare moments, not taking large chunks of writing time like I have been doing.
We are keeping our schedule open for spontaneity, to be able to have plenty of FAMILY time and not over booking ourselves.
We’re focusing on the REASON for Christmas, celebrating JESUS and his BIRTH.
It isn’t that we didn’t enjoy Christmas the past few years. We DID. We just also let a lot of other things crowd in and cloud our joy.. Annabelle being sick. Money woes, Job stress.
NOT THIS YEAR.
We are CHOOSING joy. Grabbing hold of it and swinging high above the daily stresses.
The view is GREAT from up here.
I invite you to join us!
Best wishes for your family during the holiday season this year. Wow, your daughter's story is powerful. I just subscribed to your blog, but read some past posts. Since you read a lot, have you heard of a book about counting backwards to Christmas? I heard it promoted on the radio, but didn't write the exact title or author down. It sounded like a good book – a devotional for Christmas that begins with Jesus' birth and then works back in time to the events that led to his birth. I believe it is a daily devotional, but not sure. I'd love to get it for my family. Thanks. 🙂