MERRY THANKSTOCHRISTGIVINGMAS!

December 4, 2013

Stating the obvious about my swiftly becoming habitual tardiness in the Doodle writing arena surely would grate on everyone’s nerves at this point, so let me just say this–I entertained about 409 people in my little house for five days over the Thanksgiving period, so doodling did not happen. Before the 409 (actually that number would be closer to 9 if you count me, which I did, because I entertained myself as well) descended upon the humble Kuss abode, I had to prepare for the said descension by getting my cleaning and planning frenzy on for a couple of weeks. And before that I wrote the annual Christmas letter early, in order to save my sanity over Thanksgiving. And as we all know by now, my doodle inspirations rarely hit anywhere near the middle of the month, let alone the beginning, unless I’m writing at the beginning because I’m late. So that’s my excuse to appease my Martha prone soul. That’s also going to have to serve as my excuse for probably not writing another one by the end of the year. Thus the title. This is it people! Only so much can be sucked out of the brain void this time of year. Onward then!

Thanksgiving was a wondrous interlude with all my grown up little peeps back in the nest together for a few days along with my sister and brother-in-law from Kansas City and the oldest peep’s hubby and their own tiny peep! As such gatherings become rarer, the greater the blessing they become. This getting older business involves getting used to a whole lot more than reading glasses, gray hair and creaky bones. The heart swells up to near bursting and then BAM! Deflation of the elation hits over a bunch of dirty towels and sheets. I guess I’ll get used to it eventually.

On another front, it’s time to ponder my one word for next year and I feel that I haven’t yet scratched the surface of last year’s COMPOSE and this year’s POEM. Keeping the whole writing theme going entices me to start making a list of literary words, but I’m supposed to let God choose the word for me. Hmmm. I must keep an open mind about this, although I do believe the Lord knows what words will resonate best within each of us, so maybe. . . .

Here’s what God has taught me through the last couple of years through these two words. First of all, I need to be aware of my tendency to fly off the edge of a cliff over the tiny details of life and be prepared. My order-seeking brain likes to plan and it also expects every plan to go as planned. This is stupid. To remain COMPOSED instead of tizzifying during a decomposition of a plan, I need to **Breathe** deeply, **Remember** that people are more important than my plan, **Trust** that God is at work in the less than perfect execution of the plan, and **Pray** for strength. Also repeating, compose, Compose, COMPOSE, **COMPOSE!!!** several times can’t hurt, although it might alarm anyone who doesn’t know me that may be in the near vicinity, in which case, I should attempt to hold that little mantra within the confines of my head.

All that has been reinforced as I’ve journeyed with POEM this year. Based on the fact that the Greek word translated as “workmanship” in Ephesians 2:10 is the root for our English word “poem,” I’ve lived this year growing in the joy of knowing that I am God’s work in progress, one of His beloved masterpieces, and that He created me to do good works He planned in advance for me to do. That takes the pressure off of me to make great plans and execute them perfectly. If God has already prepared the work I’m supposed to be doing, then when my plans go to pot or get interrupted or delayed (because honestly, I cannot just sit around not planning–God made me a form poem with certain parameters, not the free verse type) I can **Rest** in the knowledge that God is at that moment tweaking my plan to conform to His. Sometimes the tweak unnerves, annoys, distresses or disappoints me. That’s when a dramatic “I AM GOD’S POEM!” accompanied by a fist pump and maybe a little dance is in order.

Mercy! So much to learn and remember. I wonder what I’ll be learning in the coming year? Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be exciting. One thing is for sure, I plan on writing about it, because over the last couple of years, Jesus has assured me that this penchant of mine comes from Him, not just my own silly head. Writing is part of the plan! Woohoo!

That calls for a marathon celebration of Merry ThankstoChristgivingmas!