The Final Push

Secretary leaves on vacation Friday. I will be gone December 27-30. That means that by Friday, we have to have the January newsletter done, bulletins completed for December 20, 24, 27, and January 3. People ask me if I'm ready for Christmas, and I laugh. When other people think about being ready for Christmas, they are thinking about cards, baking, decorating, shopping and wrapping gifts. My priorities are slightly different. As of today, all the bulletins are done except for January 3. I will have the information I need to complete that this afternoon. The newsletter is now the big challenge. It needs to be done by Thursday morning. I should have the rest of the information I need for it this evening. My goal is to always be far enough ahead in the office we can handle a big funeral that comes up unexpectedly. I did a funeral the morning of December 24th once, so I know the importance of being prepared. This year if a funeral came up, the newsletter would probably get pushed back and wouldn't get out until January 3rd instead of December 27th.

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Once the newsletter is done and I'm slightly more comfortable with the progress I'm making on sermons for December 20 and 24, I will begin thinking about other things. I've already done some shopping (I hate stores, so much of my shopping gets done online), but there is more to do. Daughter has been bugging about shopping for weeks. I'll take her out this Saturday.

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I stopped sending out Christmas cards years ago-- it was just an added stress I didn't need. The baking and decorating had to be done before last Sunday's open house (which went well). I still have one more batch of cookies I want to bake for a Christmas gift. Tomorrow I will visit the shut-ins and take them communion.

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Daughter was home sick yesterday, and I learned that her wonderful story of a week ago was just that-- a story. The reality is going to be much harder. The tremors were bad this morning, and she asked for a straw to drink her milk so the milk wouldn't splash on her glasses. She's already called and asked me to come get her because she doesn't feel good. She needs to get through Christmas, and then we'll worry about tweaking her medication. I'll monitor the tremors, and if necessary call Psychiatrist about making adjustments yet this week.

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Too often in the midst of all the work of this season, Daughter's wants get pushed aside. I'm sure she has lots of people asking her if she's ready for Christmas-- but since she's dependent on me for her preparations, that's hard. Christmas Day will be just the two of us, and I will work hard to make it special for her. I've told her she can have Nice Guy over for a nice meal on December 26th. We will leave to see family after worship on December 27.

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For now, though, I'm working to get all the worship plans finalized. I'm looking at the January calendar and figuring out what needs to go in the newsletter. I'm making contact with people who need special attention at this time of year. I'm in the final push. Once I'm through it, I'll worry about being ready for Christmas.