Countdown to Christmas

Today, I was scheduled to be at work, but I'm at home on-call, so our day looks like:

• watching a marathon of James Bond movies
• fika with new tea(!) and leftover cutout sugar cookies (this gf sugar cookie recipe, made with butter, is my favorite)
• a new knitting project: a colorwork beanie for Nicholas (my first official colorwork project, surprisingly)
• planning a second new knitting project (a knitter simply must be prepared with enough yarn)
• snuggles on the couch
• a quick trip to Trader Joe's
• keeping warm inside (it's 26 degrees out after it was 75 degrees yesterday. My goodness, Texas, you keep us guessing)

Now that the knit-this-as-fast-as-possible and hurry-up-to-the-post-office parts of my brain are settling down, the rest of my brain is mulling over packing lists and meal planning with careful leftovers for the next few days. Only two 12-hour shifts are between me and our "Christmas break." That said, an unexpected day at home is a welcome opportunity for me to take a break from the frenzy of planning. To pause and remember the true reason we celebrate at Christmastime. So, I'm wishing you happiness as you celebrate with friends and family, with gifts and good food, and also a reverence as we accept that our happiness on earth is only a shadow of the joy we get to experience eternally, because of the arrival (and ultimate death) of Jesus. Let us find rest in that joy, this season.

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son 1 John 5.11

O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining It is the night of our dear Savior's birth Long lay the world in sin and error pining 'Til He appeared and the soul felt it's worth A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn