Our Christmas home + what I learned about Christmas ornaments

Most years I find myself digging thru each and every box and bin for every last ornament and all the Christmas decor the house can hold.

You know you have more than enough ornaments when you can no longer see the tree.

This year seems to be different.

I finished the home office, and brought a few of our favorite things out, creating a few vignettes and called it good.

I kept thinking about how pretty everything looked and didn’t want to add any more.

 

 

Maybe I’m just getting older or deep down am craving more simplicity this year.

But I like it, it’s pretty, but simple and peaceful.

And just enough to make the kids eyes twinkle with excitement, so that is good enough for me.

I shared recently how much I am enjoying letting go of the little things that get too big when we focus on them.

To be honest it felt a bit strange to box up the remainder of the Christmas decor and put it back in the garage.

 

But as I settled in to watch the sun disappear, and see the lights glow on the tree, I felt perfectly content with it all.

And thought about how sometimes, if we are looking for something else, we miss the biggest blessings of all.

So many years ago, in a very humble place, to a couple who didn’t know what to expect, a Son was born.

That in the most quiet, beautiful way, His birth brought hope to a broken world.

What if it needed to be perfect, or beautiful, or different somehow to be ok?

I can’t imagine the feelings and fears they must have had, but they pressed on, and chose what was best.

They way it was supposed to be.

And thank goodness they did, as it seems to have set the tone for how the rest of the Story would go.

That God isn’t looking for perfect people, but people willing to give up the things they thought were important.

To choose what is best.

That’s hard to do sometimes, and I am first in line losing sight of what matters.

I’m not sure if having a more simply decorated home this year cleared my mind and heart to see what really mattered in a new light.

 

 

Or if my heart was maybe ready to have less of the world and more of Him.

Perhaps it’s both.

In the still, quiet, we can think, and hear, and rest.

I remember getting as close to the base of the tree as I could growing up. Laying on the floor and looking up thru the tree.

It smelled so good.

 

 

And the fire my grandpa had going in the background, with wood from cherry trees on a good year (best smell ever.)

Twinkling lights, hot cocoa, feet getting warm after playing out in the snow till dark.

 

 

We didn’t have a lot, but we had what was best.

I hope that when my kids a grown, stringing the lights on their own tree, and have perhaps done more in the past, find themselves upon a year of doing less.

 

 

That the treasure of time, and rest, is tucked neatly within stopping to appreciate what you have.

And embracing what we need, and what we need to set aside.

 

 

I don’t miss those boxes this year, I thought I might wish I had “finished” decorating, but the funny thing is, I am enjoying our December more than ever.

I hope this finds you enjoying your December in your favorite way, and as always I love to hear what you are up to.

 

 

Until next time, may your heart and home be full of everything you love,

xo, Tanya

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5 Responses

    1. Thank you so much Diana, your sweet message means so much 🙂 Happy New Year and thank you for reading!

      xo, Tanya

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hi there !!

Welcome to twelveOeight! I’m Tanya and I am so glad you are here. If you are ready to start loving the home you have now, then join me on my mission. One thrifty project at a time we can make our today homes our dream homes.

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