December 26th through January 1st is always an odd time, it's post Christmas and pre New Year's Day, and there's not really enough time to recover, and not really enough time to hide from anything, you just have to sort of glide/roll/float your way through those few days and hope that you don't explode or miss someone's appointments or burn the house down before your regular routines can begin again. There's so much on everyone's minds; did that really just happen? did mom say that to me in front of everyone? did uncle Joe really just ask if aunt Judy was going to go there with that again? did my brother in law really throw away a full serving of grandma's green beans without trying to hide it from her? .... and on and on with the family drama....
.... add the real stressors of work, and life....
It was our family's first year with loved ones not with us. It's potentially the last year with loved ones with us. Some of our loved ones are going through personal physical, mental, emotional struggles that we do or do not know about. At that point, do grandma's green beans really matter?
I went for 6 weeks without pay, courtesy of Congress, this last Fall. Their temporary continuing resolution is only good through January. A new year is NOT a time of celebration for me, it's a time of complete stress! Does January bring another 4-6 weeks of having to work with no paycheck? Does it mean we may go even longer?
Everyone has things on their plate, but everyone also has things they haven't unpacked, things they don't want to share. It's important that we remember this with every action, reaction, and especially interaction that we have on a regular basis. We are the words, actions, and works of Christ on this earth. We are here to share His love, not to judge, not to make others feel less-than, not to scare people or shame them into following Him. We are here to give them His Grace, as He has given it to us.
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