Days of Grace: christmas

I guess I could've come up with a better title. Too much effort! Does anyone else (mothers) feel this weird pressure to create the perfect Christmas memories every year? I am an idealistic perfectionist and am therefore prone to be pessimistic. My beloved husband is a realist and yet is an optimist. We have often tried to figure out this mystery. I think being a realist is better - you don't get let down as easily. ANYWAY! I have no idea what I'm rambling about - I'm actually sitting here on a Sunday afternoon with a mere eleven children in my house...feeling peaceful! THERE IS A GOD! But back to the creation of perfect memories. On Friday, the kids were finally out of school and we decided to have a family Christmas fun day! We began by having a family gift exchange with gifts that we found around the house. That was fun - really it was. Then we decided to go hang out at the Botanic Gardens and have a picnic. This was probably the highlight of our day (who has a picnic on Dec 19th - only in Texas). So far, so good. We were actually enjoying one another's company and the reality of the perfect family day seemed within my grasp. But alas, things began to go downhill when we returned home. My eldest daughter became moody due to the fact that her younger siblings just got on her last nerve - she was ready to quit her job of being the big sister. Bickering among everyone. This can really kill the perfect family fun Christmas day. We just never recovered the mood. We ate homemade chicken nuggets and mac & cheese, watched Frosty the Snowman, and ate popcorn and drank wassail. Still very little contentment. Sigh.... But I have been determined to enjoy Jesus this week, darn it! :) So my husband and I were on a short date last night and we're discussing some issues we're having with a couple of our kids. I suggest that we should be praying TOGETHER about this stuff and he just says "I hate praying with you." This was a startling and disappointing announcement. LOL! But so good. Revelation is good, right? He further explained that he always feels like he is disappointing me by not leading us in the way I think he should. Maybe there has actually been some truth to this in the past so he was justified in his declaration. Anyway, we went home and prayed for about 25 minutes TOGETHER (and we both enjoyed it). And then we prayed together again this a.m. And guess what? This has been the best Sunday we've had in a long time. I didn't dread cell today and it felt less chaotic. Even with my snotty-nosed three-year-old and 10-month-old crawling all over me during church, I felt happy. And now with three extra kids here, I'm still happy. Jesus is really kind. And as my kids are decorating sugar cookies and wrapping presents (while I sit here relaxing and blogging :)), I am experiencing one of those moments that would've failed if I had tried to create it! Life by the Spirit is a lot easier than life by my flesh. Hmmm....you'd think I would have learned this by now. May those of you reading this be over-the-top content in Jesus this week! Here are some pics from the week...