Realignment

"What you invest in is what you worship."

I have mentioned to a friend multiple times lately about how I don't feel grounded. I feel scattered. My mind feels full, and my heart feels off. 

I woke this morning in a house that looks like Christmas threw up. 

While some of you have beautifully Pinterest worthy decorated trees, mantles, homes that I've gotten glimpses of in pictures, I have Christmas kid clutter. I've tripped over the Fisher Price Nativity. The elf was hard to find amongst a mess of toys of this morning. There's  a large sack for playing Santa filled with goodness knows what sprawled across the floor. You get the picture? 

My mantle has a mismatch of Home Depot kids builds items from years past. Oh - and those foot prints turned into prints in the preschool years. Oh - and the must keep Nutcracker from the year she had to have a souvenir from the ballet. 

My home is currently a good visual of how I felt this morning. One injured husband. One sick kid. One moody teenager. One wee one who couldn't find her lovie at 2:30 Am. 

Mess. 

I will confess - I wanted to stay home this morning, put a movie on, make a 3rd cup of hot tea and just be. 

But instead I dragged myself to church. 

The very first sentence out of the preacher's mouth was something like "We come here to worship each week and to re-align our hearts with God."

Yes - I needed an alignment this morning. 

I want to love the holiday season. 

I'm definitely excited about celebrating the birth of Christ with advent readings around my dining room table, baking a happy birthday Jesus cake in my kitchen, and watching the enthusiasm with which the Peanut approaches her nativity as she learns to tell this story. 

I sat in church this morning praying He'd ground my feet in Him. 

Praying He'd hold my thoughts captive. 

Praying He'd show me how to walk this season with my INVESTMENT being in Him. 

Not the chaos of commitments, not the commercialism of extravagant gifting, not the center of it all getting lost in there. 

Mama Warriors, perhaps you, like me, feel a lot more like The Grinch than Elf as we enter this holiday season. Mamas tend to be the magic makers. The elf movers. The Santa shoppers. The what are we bringing to what and when people. The checking off the gifts for every relative. The Christmas card signers. The grocery shoppers because somewhere in this madness the circus monkeys still want to eat 3 plus times a day. 

This morning He reminded me that what I INVEST in is what I WORSHIP. 

So this holiday season, if I want my kids to feel the love of Jesus. If I want them to see what we are really celebrating. If I want this season to be one of joy for ALL of us (not just them). 

Then I have to INVEST in Him. 

I have to look at each of our calendar commitments, each gift we think of buying, each tradition we carry on and ask "Am I INVESTING in what I want to WORSHIP?" 

Worship is about who we put first in our lives. 

Worship is about aligning our hearts with Him. 

This season seems worthy of a re-alignment ?