It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas?!

Really? Already? November 1st is my day to get started. I've always let my kids get through Halloween before I get started with my Christmas decorating but November 1st is it. So the boxes are out and the decorations have started going up. This is my favorite time of the year, other than summertime of course, and I just can't wait to get it started. I was so excited yesterday when I read a fellow pastor's wife's blog and she had started her Christmas decorating. It made me feel a little less wierd for the moment. I wait until close to Thanksgiving to put the outside decor up because my kids get a little embarrassed when others can see that we are decorating for Christmas so early. Last year I freaked a little because someone in the neighborhood got their outside stuff up before me. Needless to say the next day it was going up. I like to get the house decorated and all the shopping done so that December isn't so stressful and I can just focus on enjoying it all and my focus can shift from tinsel and presents to the greatest present of all, the birth of Christ. My prayer for all as the season begins is that Christ would be so real to us and we would look for opportunities to share Him with all that we come in contact with. That He would show off in amazing ways and we wouldn't miss it because we are stressed and busy. Let me be the first to say Merry Christmas!