The holidays are over is over. I love this time of year. Do you?

I’m a little strange. I’ll admit it.

I like this time of year. I love Christmas, but I also love post-Christmas. The next thirty days or so, I will engage in a lot of reflection about the Christmas season, what I feel I did right, and what I could have done better.

I’ll take pictures of how I’ve decorated in case I want to copy some of the same ideas next year. (Some I’ve already decided I really, really like.) But mostly my thoughts will center on the events of this last year and how, based on my Christian values, I responded to life events.

As soon as I download my pictures, there will be those as well. Here’s the thing about my pictures. I used my iPhone and did almost no editing. I’m so envious of the beautiful photographs on other blogs. But then most of them aren’t using phone cameras. That’s a goal for next year. Learn how to take better photographs and get a good camera once I do.

The Musings

The shopping

I shopped a lot via the internet this year. I didn’t like doing it that way, but I had little choice.  What little in-store shopping I did do, I accomplished in one or two days. Again, not my favorite way to do things, but at least it got done, and everyone seemed happy with their gifts. I also managed to make some homemade gifts.

These are made from crushed tin cans. I made three different versions. They were a lot of fun to make.

My daughter made these (the yarn-wrapped trees), and I love them. I’m making these for next year as gifts.

The baking

Yea!!!!  Great success. I baked Anzac cookies, thumbprint cookies, Mexican wedding cakes, and chocolate chip cookies. No-bakes were the traditional chocolate, oatmeal, peanut butter kind, as well as mission balls, Chinese noodle candy, and peanut butter fudge and pretzels topped with Rollo’s.  They all turned out great. However, the dough for the cut-outs is still in the freezer-maybe for Valentine’s Day?

Our home is over one hundred-twenty years old, and between the kitchen and the mudroom is a small hallway/room. My husband built some shelves on one side. I lined up all the cookies in my favorite red and white tins, labeled each, and set them on top of a snow blanket interspersed with little trees.  It was a great idea, but I didn’t take pictures. Sorry.

The decorating

I have lots of Christmas decorations. Pretty much every room is decorated.

I loved how I decorated the mantel, the desk, the dining room hutch, and my old craft cabinet.

I felt very little pressure or stress this year. I was determined to stay focused and enjoy each moment with no worries about the next ones. I was able to let people be who they are and not let their attitudes affect me. I made one change I should have made a long time ago. It turned out to be a good decision, and I was able to avoid some conflicted feelings I’ve had in the past. Sometimes it just makes sense to avoid a troublesome situation, even if it means more work for ourselves.

It’s a sunny day today, and as I sit and think about the last few weeks, I am acutely aware that life won’t always be this good. Christmases won’t always be this wonderful. I consider myself an astute woman, and know life is predictable only in its unpredictability. I’m so glad I made the most of this season. I got tired at times, but I just drank more coffee (doesn’t affect my Afib at all) and repeated the mantra, “enjoy this moment, enjoy this moment, enjoy this moment.”

Now I have a month for reflection. I would make a great monk.

I started this post with “I’m a little strange. I’ll admit it.” Well, I’m even stranger than you think because I like New Year’s Resolutions and I’m pretty good at keeping them. I am presently coming up with a few.

And it starts with my word of the year. I have several words, but I think I have settled on one. The strange thing is that the word and its implications are showing up everywhere. In what I read, what I’m reading in my Bible, what our pastor is saying–everywhere.

I love it when God does this. Puts everything in front of me when I’m only beginning to form the thoughts in my head.

Do you have a word of the year? Have you ever considered it? It really does give your year a theme.

I hope your lives are getting back to normal. I’m putting away my Christmas decorations very judiciously this year, really thinking through why I’m keeping what I’m keeping. Do I like it enough to store it for another year? Has it served its purpose? If I decide to keep it, can I store it better?

Anyway, that’s where I am now. Thinking, planning, thinking some more. Letting God lead my thoughts knowing his are better than mine.

God bless you as we begin 2026. I hope it’s wonderful for each of you.

Rebecca

Hi. I'm so glad you're here. My blog focuses on faith and mental health issues such as mood disorders like depression, anxiety, and dysthymia (chronic low moods that don't qualify as depression.) I post DIY and decorating projects when I can. My book, "Depression Has A Big Voice. Make Yours Bigger! (Expanded Edition), is on sale at all online retailers. I have a Psychology degree and post-graduate courses in Clinical Pastoral Education. I am a former hospital chaplain, Bible teacher, and retreat/conference inspirational speaker. Thank you for visiting and may you feel God's presence today.

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