Merry Christmas

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

It's Christmas night at approximately 8:30 pm and I'm the last one awake in our house. We had a big day. Mom and I were up at 4:30 am preparing a Christmas breakfast for the group of about 60 homeless people from our city that are taking shelter from the cold at our church this week. By 6:00 the rest of the family had arrived and we were all fussing about cracking jokes and trying to be industrious. It's hard to remain coherent that early in the morning, but the breakfast went well and I think our guests enjoyed the breakfast buffet.

After we returned home we did our usual Christmas things and then I took a fantastic nap, hence my being the only one awake right now. I'm glad my family gets to rest now; they have worked hard today.

Although the days leading up to this holiday have been fraught with personal problems, and it seemed as though a new day would never dawn, the worst has passed for now. I can once again think with relative clarity and breathe without pain. I'm thankful that this Christmas I was able to enjoy the Christmas Eve candlelight service without a veil of depression over me. It was and is an incredible blessing.

I hope you found a modicum of peace in your life this Christmas. Even a small streak of peace is a beauty to behold. I feel peace when I sit down to write a blog post. I can't even begin to focus if I'm in a noisy room, so I always wait until I can be by myself in silence. I have a great appreciation for silence. Although my thoughts are obviously right inside my head, I can't seem to identify them and draw them out of hiding until I am quiet and alone. I've tried writing with another person in the room (who is absolutely silent) but it's like the gates to my brain are locked. Kind of weird....

One of the many reasons I enjoy blogging is that it feels like I'm cleaning out my brain. Sounds kind of messy, no? Actually, when I don't blog for a couple days my thoughts start building up in my head and things start to get pretty crowded. Writing is like emptying out a bit of my thoughts that are taking up space in my head, and making room for new ones. It's refreshing.

Sometimes my posts don't really have a point, much like this one. Somehow, though, writing still brings me peace. The performer/entertainer in me likes having people read what I write. That's why blogging is more fulfilling than writing in a journal, for me. Also, knowing that people are going to be reading my posts helps me to censor my thoughts. This kind of censoring is helpful because it forces me to review my thoughts from an outside perspective in order to write things that make sense.

Thank you for reading my blog. Thank you for giving me some of your time. I pray that Jesus makes love come alive in your heart this evening.

Merry Christmas

Love,
Charlotte