Great Because it was Good Enough

I don't remember exactly whose blog
I was on when I read the post "Good Enough Christmas," but it meant more to me than any other post this year. I needed it. The truth that, no matter how things pan out that aren't as I picture them in my ideal "mind's eye," and in spite of my best-laid plans and hopes for a Hallmark holiday, it's good enough.

In fact, adopting this mindset was so helpful I was able to say when it was over, "Christmas this year was great because it was good enough."

I didn't sweat over making sure I spent exactly the same amount on each child. (I've felt guilty over a five-dollar difference in the past.)

I wanted to give out a loaf of bread daily for ten neighbors or friends. I only made three. It was a good enough Christmas anyway. I have the rest of the year to give out bread if I want. And I do.

I wanted to get a last shot of all our kids
standing on the steps where the stockings hang. But I never found all the stockings and only hung up the dog's. (Sigh.) Besides, the oldest child slept in on Sunday morning while the rest of us went to our church. (His church didn't have a service.) I would previously have tried to guilt him into going with all of us to make me happy, but I am learning (yes, at the ripe old age of forty-something) that there is no happiness in guilt, whether receiving it or giving it. I am letting go. It's been a good year of learning to set people free of my expectations or yearnings.

For example, earlier in December, I had hoped the menfolk would want to
help chop down a Christmas tree, but
they weren't into it. Rather than hold it against them, I hopped in the van with my girl and off we went to the tree farm.

She cut it down while I snapped pictures. We made a memory. And we got our first Fraser fir. What I remember was how she said, "It's a good thing God doesn't choose us the way we choose trees. Too fat, too skinny, too bare, too brown, too tall, too short." I added ," Or soft or prickly,
sappy or dry." The tree we brought home wasn't the prettiest we're ever had, but it was good enough.
















If you happen to misplace some of the
Christmas stockings, it's okay, as I
found out .A tall gift bag is good enough
for holding things needed by a grown
child about to move into his first
apartment.

Gotta love the excited
expression on a guy's face when he
gets dish towels and a toilet bowl
brush in his stocking.

Another thing that was good enough, though by no means the cutesy-tootsey things I
had envisioned taking to a party, were these Santa hats. If you look closely on the
coffee table, there's a dish of them. (I left some brownies plain because the icing was
just so darn stiff in the tube, and I barely had the strength to frost these few.)



I was so eager to make the Santa hats that I didn't read the directions
first. If I had, I would've known the brownie mix should've been poured
into mini muffin tins.

So, to end up with round muffin-like shapes,
I used my blender lid. Good enough!

Hmm, they look more like hamburgers
in the picture.








I used some of my favorite wrapping
paper as a liner for an everyday green
salad plate. Not fancy, but good enough.



The next picture isn't great, but it's good enough for my blog. The thing that's great
is God's grace to us a couple. This year marked our 25th Christmas together since we
said "I do." Even though I'm not a great wife, I must be good enough.

Oh, and the little blue topaz ring I'm wearing?
I picked it out and told my hubby it was a great
gift from him. That kind of gift-giving, once in
a while, is good enough.