holiday spirits

imbibe them, my friends! especially brandy.hubs has been making me brandy alexanders and oh are they yummy.
as for the real actual "holiday spirits" . . . i don't really know what to tell you. everybody else is telling you not to stress. whle that is a brilliant reminder, we all know how effective it is, really. i would say: make sure you're stressing for the right reasons! trying to make a beautiful Christmas for your family, trying to find or make or afford meaningful gifts, trying to make sure you have done what you feasibly can for your children to know hat Jesus is coming, trying to prepare your home to receive Him and perhaps guests in His honor . . . these are good, noble endeavours. like anything else important, it is going to take its toll. so, by all means feel the pressure! especially if you, like me, are the one primarily responsible for making it all come together. it is a way of sacrificing ourselves, of gtting rid of that selfishness that will truly take away from Christmas. it is not having time, maybe, to sit and relax as we wrap presents, mail gifts, make goodies, clean house.
it means that at that moment when we are kneeling before Him, when we sit in His presence to worship Him, we will not be coming with empty hands. we take these things we have done, these seeming small sacrifices and self-denials, and say, "here is my gift for the King."