trying something new this december

Driving home from a lovely week in Utah spent with Annie, friends, and family, I started thinking about the fact that today would be December 1st. My heart sunk a little. For most of my married life, I've not been the best at organizing my Decembers so as to be enjoyed.

There was that one December when the kids were little and I single handedly made 200 ornaments and decorated a Christmas tree for charity. My own tree? I think it did get decorated, but at the last minute and not with handmade snowmen, sleds, and gloves, maybe...

And all the years I've been scrapping, I alway put assignments in front of my family, then the family suffers. Not that they've ever complained. I've been the hardest on myself, but I'm tired of beating myself with a wet noodle, so this year, I'm doing something different.

Every day this month, I'm going to look for miracles. We have a favorite folk singer from our days in Minnesota named Peter Mayer. He's got a song about how he sees miracles in the every day, not just in a Sunday worship setting.

I agree.

And this December I'm going to look for those miracles and write a handwritten note to December (yes, silly, but it has a nice ring to it, "Dear December," don't you think?) and thank it for the miracles I saw that day. Kind of a twist on the whole November thankful for thing. So if you're tired of that, please ignore my posts and social media feeds this month.

I don't plan to write a lot on the computer, just in a little notebook. I'll post a picture here every day (maybe).

And hopefully December will take on a whole new meaning. I'll still have all the deadlines and assignments, I'll still have all the Christmas gifts to make or buy and mail, I'll still have the Christmas cards to worry about, but hopefully, by looking for miracles, I'll be able to balance things just a little bit better.