Sunday, December 22, 2013

I'm Late Again

After being the guy with dazed look in his eyes in a crowded shopping aisle on Christmas Eve so many years, I finally became creative, prepared and disciplined and started shopping earlier the last five or six years. I was able to do this by taking advantage of the internet, Paypal, overnight shipping, and the fact that Christmas is the same day every year. Tools and resources I have had for quite awhile. Imagine that - Christmas is the same day every year, yet I was waiting until the last minute to shop.

The past years have been so much more enjoyable and less stressful knowing that the delivery truck is bringing the packages to me. In most cases, I am able to pay an extra $5 and have the packages arrive already wrapped. Now, that is an excellent shopping trip. Until this year. I did it again. My three weeks of being ill, followed by a week in the hospital, interfered with my shopping. I am not sure why as I had a year to prepare, and Christmas is once again to be celebrated on December 25. However, I was not prepared this year. My streak of five or six years of planning through the summer and ordering in November came to an IV dripping halt this year. The bad part is that my wife's birthday is two days after Christmas. I am not sure if that is bad for me or bad for her. But all of this is to serve as a reminder of why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. It should not be about me, or her, or about checking everything on the shopping list. It should be about Christ, new beginnings, second chances, everlasting life, being on His list. John 3:16. Merry Christmas to those of you who still follow.