This peace....

The last few months we have been spending lots of time as a family.  We have been enjoying many activities at home together.  I have passed up many of the invitations to open houses and product parties that kept my schedule full last Christmas.  And since I was able to shop and wrap presents while the kids were at school, by the time they were on Christmas break, I was free to be with them, instead of making last minute preparations.  The holiday was minus all hustle and bustle. So by the time Christmas came, I was sad that it had arrived so quickly, instead of being thankful to have it over! 

The kids were old enough this year to really understand and participate fully in the advent and Christmas activities we did, like making ornaments and baking.  It was so fun to do those things together and to be able to focus the Christmas season back on Christ's birth.

And at the same time I notice all the kids are able to do, the more I realize that they are growing so fast.  It feels like it was only a heartbeat ago that I was nestling their little bodies in my lap helping them tear open the paper on their gifts and now they are reading off the names and handing the gifts out.  I only have them for a few heartbeats and that they are slipping away from me a little more each year as they grow more and more independent.  It is so bittersweet.  So I have been soaking them in and making memories while we can.

The kids were snuggling on the couch a couple mornings before Christmas, while Josh and I were in the bedroom getting ready for the day.  I overheard Elias say to Bella (who was due on Christmas day 2003, but didn't arrive until January 4th), "The year mom was pregnant for you was the best Christmas ever because I knew I was going to get you as a sister and that was the best present ever!"  It is things like this that I want to hold in my heart forever.  


So that is why I haven't been blogging.  I have been so busy just enjoying the holiday season, I didn't take the time to write it down.  I guess I would call my holiday season peaceful.  It is funny that I barely recognize peace when I actually attain it. Or better said, when I finally listen to the Holy Spirit and allow myself time and the spiritual discipline to obey.

Sara Groves has a song that is called "This Peace", which I love and always feel peace when I listen to it.  I have copied and pasted the lyrics below, but you can click on the link if you'd like to hear her sing it as well.


This Peace by Sara Groves

So many words to say, but I'm opting for silence
So many days to live
I thinking I'm sitting this one out
Cause something I've been chasing finally stop to let me catch it
Something I've been longing for and dreaming about

It's a whisper in my ear
It's a shiver up my spine
It's the gratitude I feel for all that's right
It's a mystery appeal that's been granted me tonight
This peace

It's something so elusive 
Something close but far away
It's the home that I can't live in yet somewhere in outer space
And sometimes I barely miss it when I walk into the room
The curtains are still swaying and I feel the air move

And it whispers in my ear and it shivers up my spine
It's the gratitude I feel for all that's right
It's a mystery appeal that's been granted me tonight
This peace

No time to grab a camera
No time to write it down
Just time enough to breathe it in
And linger

It's a whisper in my ear
It's a shiver up my spine 
It's the gratitude I feel for all that's right
It's a mystery appeal that's been granted me tonight
This peace, This peace