I have said this twice today myself and other women have said it to me!  My mind is already on how I’m going to simplify my preparations for Christmas next year.   Jess and I have it all planned out already!

* Simplify my "Be Organised for Christmas" method
* Simplify my calendar and all that I aim to do (I don’t do half of it anyway!!)

I have said to my friends that I have been so organised in my head but life just doesn’t show it.  Once again I am challenged to line up my beliefs with the words I confess.  Reality is that I had some very specific goals for the month of December and therefore I must assess my achievements based on those goals not the unrealistic things I get caught up in thinking I must do.

My goals for this Christmas had to do with heart – read my process and guidelines for setting Christmas goals in Restoring the Heart, Mind and Soul of Christmas  Now as I look back over nearly 20 days of specific Christmas preparation can I say I have achieved the things I wanted to? 

My goals were –
* to keep my spirit gentle
* to keep my house peaceful
* to keep my heart full of love
* to prepare our hearts for Jesus – to re-establish daily family devotions (a habit that had slipped over the previous few months)
* to recognise the need for fun memories as well as important spiritual truths

Nowhere on my goals list was to have my house decluttered, spring cleaned, or my ironing caught up.  And yet these are the things that are pressurising my to-do list.  These are the things that are robbing me of the joy of being with my kids as we prepare for Christmas day.

Back to what is important!

I encourage you to guard your hearts and your time in the next week.

Belinda