I'm not sure what I become more excited about:  Christmas itself or the arrival of my kids for the holidays!
Caylea comes home this afternoon, and I find myself thinking about what she'd like for supper and if she'll want to get the Christmas Tree right away.  I made sure her presents are wrapped and labeled so she can shake and poke at them when she gets home.
This year will be the first that our oldest, Mark, will not be home for Christmas Day.  It is only fair that he and Amy spend Christmas with her family and we totally understand what it is like to alternate and split the time with various sides of our families!  But we have wonderful plans for fun activities when they come home-going to "The Hobbit" for the third holiday in a row and viewing "Corner Gas" on DVD.  And hopefully opportunity to throw rocks on the curling ice!
Daniel lives at home, so we are blessed with his presence on a regular basis.  But we are thankful that we can enjoy him and be part of his life and journey and I can't imagine what it would be like for Daniel to be away from home...I'm sure that day is coming soon!
So today, I have a list of cleaning chores to be done and boxes of ornaments to be brought up from the crawl space.  Maybe some more baking.
Each day brings us a little closer to that big celebration and the anticipation is building.  As I make preparations for our family to gather in our home, Lord, prepare my heart for YOU!  May my mind be set on things above and my heart be full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Bless my home and my heart with the garlands of Your grace.
And watch over our kids as they travel home...