8 sleeps until Christmas. Eiiggggghhhhttttttt!!!! Our apartment is in shambles. Half packed boxes, messy kitchen, don't even get me started on the bedroom....We got possession of OUR HOME on Monday and now James is working crazy hard to get the walls and floors done before we move in at the end of the month. I'm freaking out a little bit.

And if I'm not careful, Christmas may pass me by.

Can anyone else relate to this? Swamped with exams....Christmas party after Christmas party...insane work season...never ending shopping list... Isn't it ironic that perhaps all the activities that are supposed to make you enjoy the season, are actually doing the opposite? Does it seem like Christmas is passing you by?

Almost every Christmas, I've had a real tree. Not some little Charlie Brown excuse of a tree, but a big, bustling, at least 7 foot tall sucker. This year because of the move, we didn't get one. It would have been crazy to take out our Christmas box and move a tree two days after Christmas.

But on Saturday, I couldn't take it anymore. I knew our home needed something. I couldn't stand not having any decorations up. So I grabbed some washi tape and made a makeshift Christmas tree, wrapped some presents and placed them on a sheepskin. I was determined to not let Christmas pass me by.

Christmas is not meant to merely pass by us. Christmas is meant to be soaked in. To be pondered. To be reflected upon. To be sipped slowly like a steaming hot peppermint mocha on a cold day.

I can't help but think of Mary in this season. Mary, the brave young woman who birthed God's gift to us, Jesus Christ. Things were craaazy for her. Visited by an Angel, travelling on a donkey at 9 months pregnant, birthing Christ in a barn, shepherds coming to see baby Jesus full of glorious stories of chorus' of angels telling them of the Messiah's birth. Now that is a lot to handle. But I love what it says about Mary in Luke 2:19...

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

She took it all in. Among the bustle, she let all the beauty, the thrill, the magnificence sink deep into her heart.

I'm so inspired by Mary. I'm determined to not let Christmas pass me by. Amidst the insanity, I'm challenged to be still. To ponder and reflect on the beauty, thrill, magnificence of Christmas... Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. Let's soak it in this Christmas.

Who's with me?

Love you to the moon & back,

s.s.♥︎.

P.S. HUGE thank you to all of you who filled out the Reader Survey from Monday. I love hearing your feedback! If you haven't had time to do it, I'll still be receiving responses. It means so much to me that you would take the time out of your hectic day to help improve this site, thank you xo