Christmas cards...the bane of my existence....I mean, the things I love to create for my loving family and friends...
Every year I love receiving Christmas cards. I can't wait to come home each day and check the mailbox to see which ones have arrived. I love the pictures cards with smiling faces on beach vacations. I love the sparkly snow-fallen landscapes. I love hearing from friends I haven't heard from in a year. It's a fun tradition that I enjoy.
However, sending the cards is something I've come to dread. Every year I seem to make it harder than it has to be. I have to find the perfect photos from the past year or have a family Christmas photo taken. This is easier than it sounds, since I take thousands of photos each year and it is pretty much impossible to get a Santa photo without someone crying. (Santa post to come next week!)
After picking the perfect photos, I spend hours looking through layouts and comparing prices from online retailers. I usually end up with the same one, but I always check just in case. As I'm uploading the pictures to the site, something usually goes wrong. The site crashes, it doesn't save my card, it won't take my payment method, something. I try to take a deep, cleansing breath and start over again. Inside I want to throw the computer across the room and say "The heck with Christmas cards!" But I refrain.
Christmas stamps are another thing. I love all the different types that come out each year. Of course, instead of buying one type, I decide to buy one of each. Then, as I'm addressing and stamping approximately 80 cards, I decide it is a good idea to pick a stamp for each person. So wrong. So much harder than it has to be.
And then there are the years when I decide to write little notes with the cards. Don't even get me started...
Needless to say, I have recently finished my cards and needed a moment.
Maybe the good news comes not in Christmas cards, but from the angel.
"The angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'" ~Luke 2:10-11
I need Jesus to save me. For many reasons, but mostly to save me from myself. I make many things so much harder than they have to be...
Glad I was able to deliver a beach Christmas card to your mailbox this year! I do the price shopping this year. I spent a little more, but went with a company that mailed the cards for me.....partly because I waited so long to get photos taken by the time I received the cards, addressed them and mailed them back out people would have received them in March...lol!
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