Christmas Still Comes

Dear Godgirls, Godboys, Confirmandi and Honorary Godoffspring,

Let's welcome Little Lu-Lu to the Fairy Godkid family! One day she will be old enough to read!

So Christmas is coming! The most wonderful time of the year! It's no secret that I LOVE Christmas. Like, LOVE, LOVE Christmas. I know most of you do too! But what about those years when Advent doesn't seem very Adventy. And when Christmas seems to be coming so fast and you just aren't ready yet! And what about those years you just want to hit pause, back up, rewind, and get a do-over?

Godkids, let me tell you something. I think it is for THOSE years that Jesus especially comes.

This Advent started out great. We were READY! I even remembered to buy brand new Advent Candles the week before Advent started! (This is unheard of!) I knew it meant that this would be a stellar Advent! The Jesse tree ornaments were organized the day before Advent began, we had a routine for Bible time, traveling through Salvation history, and the Christmas Novena. We were going to OWN this Advent and have the best Christmas Prep EVER! (Which, of course meant that we'd have the best Christmas to date!)

This Christmas we were all going to get to go to the Midnight Christmas Mass together! I have yet to go to a Christmas Vigil Mass because I'm mom. And in years past we would attend at least 3 different Christmas Masses collectively as a family because of choirs and kids' choirs and altar serving. But THIS year, we were rocking it! All three boys were scheduled to serve the Midnight Mass, which is the same one that my Fairy Godhusband is singing for! #ChristmasScore The Fairy GodRicketts were going to go to ONE Mass TOGETHER for Christmas!

Then. Chickenpox. And more Chickenpox. Then recurrent Chickenpox. Then I got Chickenpox. Then there was an emergency appendectomy. Then more chickenpox. And Christmas is 4 days away.

And yet.

And yet, Jesus Comes.

Christmas is still coming.

Our Bible time has been mediocre at best. The Jesse Tree is getting filled in fits and starts. The Advent candles still get lit (though contagious kids are not allowed to blow them out). The first two weeks of this short Advent were spent with at least half the members of this family not feeling well, and with me feeling rather poorly (OK, fine, like I had the flu).

We won't all be going to the Midnight Mass now, I will most likely be attending a Christmas Mass by myself, not breathing on anyone, just in case, as once again the elusive Christmas Vigil slips through my grasp.

I am not sure when I will get to the other preparations that need to still happen in order for us to be ready for Santa to come down our chimney. We are alerting the guests who had already accepted our Christmas Day invitations for dinner that they will be entering a Chickenpox zone. I may need to make a few more side dishes and probably a big ol' pot of soup. Christmas cookies just aren't happening this year.

And yet. 

And yet, He comes.

And its OK.

Because Jesus didn't come for the perfect Christmas. He is the entire reason for Christmas. HE makes it perfect. And just like over 2000 years ago, He comes quietly and peacefully into a crazy, break-neck world.

Maybe this Christmas isn't shaping up to be what you had hoped. Maybe things feel out of control. Maybe your family is struggling. Maybe you're going through something personal or difficult. Maybe Advent feels like a bust and you wish you were more joyful about Jesus' upcoming birthday. Maybe you wish this Advent and Christmas were different.

And yet.

And yet, He is coming. Jesus doesn't wait for us to be ready. We never will be. Not really. He knows how much we need Him. Now. In the middle of the chaos and the crazy. Sickness, uncertainty, insecurity. We need Him. So He comes.

This Advent, I want to give you permission, Fairy Godkids, to let go of your idea of what a perfect Advent or a perfect Christmas looks like. Let go of what you decided would make for the best holiday and instead, be still in the truth that Jesus is coming. For you. For us. And THAT is what makes it perfect. That is what makes it Christmas. If Advent is a time to recall and contemplate our need for Christ, our need for a Savior, then perhaps it is the crazy, unplanned, chaotic Advents that remind us best of all how very much we need a Savior bigger than us. Bigger than all our problems, bigger than all our sickness, all our worries. A Savior who humbled Himself to become one of us.

Christmas is coming, dear Godchildren. How very blessed we are!

Your Fairy God Mother wishes you a very Merry, Happy, Holy Christmas!

Like My Stupid Little Plant

Dear Godladies and Godboys,

I have realized something about myself and I want to share. (Actually I have realized 2 things, the first being that I am HORRIBLE and have neglected this blog and I MUST do better. I WILL do better. Seriously, send me threats via text if I fail again!)

See, I have this plant. It is a stupid little plant, but its hard to kill, which is why I still have it. Me and my black thumbs haven't gotten the best of it yet!

Anyway, so this plant sits on my desk:

My messy, functional, desk. (How do you like the lights underneath? Totally Pinterest-worthy, right? And yes that is JPII and a cat plaque....and the Holy Spirit. Really, you aren't THAT surprised, are you?)

Every so often I realize that the stupid little plant is basically climbing the window. The stems aim for the sun and the whole thing bends to reach the window and be as close to the sun as it can. 

When I notice this, I turn the plant. Sometimes I turn it 180* so its facing the opposite direction, totally away from the sun. In my mind its like plant exercise - it will keep it healthy. (or at least that's what I tell myself.)

Whenever I do this, the plant dutifully and hastily makes it way back to the sun. It amazes me how quickly it moves too. One of these times it would be fun to time-lapse it. 

After just one day, look how far this stupid little plant has come: 

Its halfway there already! Its like 'The Little Plant That Could!'

It needs the sun. Its stops at nothing to get to it (I've seen it all of a sudden grow or contort itself just to get to the sunlight!) And I realized I am that plant. 

I am my stupid little plant. 

Except I'm a stupid little girl who needs the Son. And I literally stop at nothing to get to Him. Even when it seems crazy. Even when it makes no sense. Even when it gives my parents a mini-heart attack (no really, ask them). I cannot help myself. Like my stupid little plant, who just knows it needs the sun, I, stupid little girl, need The Son. Desperately. And without Him, nothing is worth it. Its just not. There is no joy. No peace. No FUN. No Adventure!

So I want to tell you. You need Him too. You need the Son, just like my stupid little plant. Just like I have realized I am worth nothing - to you, to me, to ANYONE or ANYTHING without Him and I just can't change that (nor, honestly, would I want to) you too need Him. For EVERYTHING. 

We are made like my stupid little plant. We were created to NEED, to CRAVE the Son. God. We just get so distracted with stuff, and things, and media, and filters on Snapchat (ahem. no comment) that we put Him off. We forget. We have Him in His God-box and take Him out when we have a crisis or feel a fleeting sense of piety. Or want to show off for the hot guy in Church. But we NEED Him. All. The. Time. 

JPII said, "It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness..." He nailed it. It IS.

So turn to Him. Keep turning to Him. Little by little. Like my stupid little plant. Aim for HIM. And you won't want to turn away. 

<3 

With Love,
Your stupid little Fairy GodMother 

'Tis the Season

So I was going to sit and write something profound.

Was.

Instead I'm sitting here desperately waiting for kids to go to sleep, trying to remember what the heck profound thing I was going to write about. #BecauseChristmas.

See, Christmas is that magical time of year when I lose brain cells. In fact I think my brain cells die every Advent and then are finally Resurrected on Easter. Its like....my brain has its own interpretation of the Liturgical Year.

Someday I am going to miss all this. The frantic pace of keeping up with extra choir rehearsals and violin practice. Remembering to send Christmas Cards .... oops. #fail.  Giving a card and some small gift to the kids' instructors. Crocheting gifts and trinkets until I give myself carpel tunnel. The sneaking, the hiding,  the all-nighters, the imaginative explanations for why Mommy is so tired, the midnight coffee so I can drive home from Walmart, the midnight coffee so I can stay awake to wrap just a few more.... the coffee. The coffee. Did I say coffee?

So here I am, listening to my kids talk across the hallway about what Santa might bring, eavesdropping to make sure Santa got it right, and mentally encouraging them to fall asleep so I can remove the last of the boxes from the truck and make sure Santa's helper named Amazon Prime got it right too.

And yet....

And yet, the most important moments will be the ones in silence. The ones with family. The ones helping others. When Santa has done his job and I step back to admire the tree and all the gifts underneath, knowing that in a few short hours (OK, last year it was AN hour) there will be happy children and total chaos. Its when I go outside around midnight and stand in the stillness, looking up at the sky, finding the brightest star (which actually tends to be Venus) and wondering what it was like when the sky filled up with Angels. Wondering what the Shepherds thought.  Its when I snuggle with my kids on the couch in our Christmas PJs and eat cookies and watch the movies Santa wisely brings. Its when my husband and I tuck in the kids, crack open the champagne, and toast a job well done, and a happy family. Its when we drop off the gifts for the giving tree. Its when we hand out granola bars and shelter info to the homeless man on the corner. Its hearing the kids sing their solos for a packed Church. Its paying for the stranger's meal just because. Its not sleeping for 3 nights straight and wondering how Mary and Joseph made it to Egypt after fleeing Bethlehem. Its realizing that Christmas, all of it, happens because HE LOVES US.

For me that is the biggest thing. He comes, despite us. He comes whether or not we are ready. He comes not because we have done something, but because He knows we need Him. He comes quietly and we might miss it if we don't stop for just a minute and take it all in.

I guess that is as profound as I can manage at the moment considering one of my dear children just came out to quiz me on Christmas. And Santa. And the North Pole. And Elves. ANd if Santa dresses like a Bishop on Christmas Eve. And if Santa got to hold the Baby Jesus. *sigh* I'm gonna miss this....

Merry Christmas,
Love,
Your Fairy Godmother