Preparation Friday 5

Sally at Revgals writes:This has been a difficult week for me, the death of a little six year old has overshadowed our advent preparations, and made many of us here in Downham Market look differently at Christmas. With that in mind I ask whether you are the kind of person that likes everything prepared well in advance, are you a last minute crammer, or a bit of a mixture.....Here then is this weeks Friday 5:



1. You have a busy week, pushing out all time for preparing worship/ Sunday School lessons/ being ready for an important meeting ( or whatever equivalent your profession demands)- how do you cope?

Cope? I'm not sure I do. I guess I just do my best to get through it and hope for the best.



2. You have unexpected visitors, and need to provide them with a meal- what do you do?
Take them out somewhere. I'm not much of a cook--even for planned guests. Unexpected visitors definitely warrant going out.


Three discussion topics:
3. Thinking along the lines of this weeks advent theme; repentance is an important but often neglected aspect of advent preparations.....
True--but I don't have the energy to reflect more on that now.

4. Some of the best experiences in life occur when you simply go with the flow.....
Also, probably true--even if it's not my strong suit to go with the flow. I need plans. Once a have a plan A, I'm open to change it, but I need to start with a plan.

5. Details are everything, attention to the small things enables a plan to roll forward smoothly...
I'm a detail person. Always have been. It's the "J" in me. But I'm realistic enough that details aren't all that makes things run smoothly. The big picture is important too.

Bonus if you dare- how well prepared are you for Christmas this year?
This depends on what you mean by prepared. I'm preparing in ways that are meaningful to me--buying the gifts I need to buy, doing the things at church that I need to, and not stressing about the rest. I'm not sending cards--at least not now. I'm not putting up decorations--I know, call me the grinch, but they are more work to me than preparation. Feeling calm and anticipating the joy of Christmas Eve and the week of vacation to follow is much more important to me right now.