Cinnamon & Evergreen Strung Street Posts

Holiday smells and sights are starting to become more common as Thanksgiving and Christmas draw closer.  This weekend, I’m spending time helping to clean and decorate for the holidays.  The deep cleaning that the house demands before trees, ornaments, little villages, and strings upon strings of lights come out of the basement must occur first.  Then, there will be a lot of work heading up and down the stairs, up and down and through the basement, then up and down hauling boxes, cartons, tubs, and bags.  This nativity will go just this way, that star placed in the special spot, a Christmas book placed on the table, a Thanksgiving book placed on a bookshelf.  This is a time of wonderful smells, nutmeg and pumpkin, cinnamon and chocolate swirled through the air.  Walking into the house, I am greeted with the warmth of a fire in the stove and the smells wafting in gently.  Sights of street posts have been hung with evergreen, red bows, and giant white light bulbs.  They will look so beautiful with a fresh coat of snow.

Preparing for these wonderful days ahead requires preparation.  This is just like a time of preparation to prepare for the celebration and blessing God has prepared for us.  First, we have to be deep cleaned.  More than just knocking off a layer of dust, we need to pull out the Lysol, bleach, and scrubby bubbles to be thoroughly scoured (metaphorically speaking). Then, English Oil needs to be used to put moisture in, I need to be nourished and cared for, allowing God to restore me.  Then – it’s time for the work to really begin.  There will be hauling up and down the stairs to bring up the things to come, sort through what needs to be put away, and prepare.  Tangled light strings need to be carefully unknotted, and the knots in my life also need to be released by God.  He is much better at untangling than I am.  Finally, decorating can begin!  Plans God has made, items and people He wants to place in my life are carefully arranged.  Then, I sit and enjoy the quiet of the white lights reflecting on the tree.  I quiet my self and seek to praise the one who prepared all of this for me.