This Christmas, Carpe Minutam!

When I was a kid, I counted down the days until Christmas because like every other kid on the planet, I was excited. Now that I’m old(er!) and obligated to do a lot of adulting, I count down the days because I’m paranoid about not getting it all done before Christmas.

It.

What is “it”?

Grocery shopping, menu planning, gift wrapping, shopping, toilet cleaning, preparing bedrooms for company, writing blogs that very few people read. 🙂 I could carry on …

Problem is, in the midst of “it”, Christ fades. He gets diminished. He decreases when He should be increasing. Granted, He should always be increasing, but especially at Christmas. What kind of person ignores the one being honored at a birthday celebration because food needs to be served, and presents need to be bought and wrapped?

Well, Martha (Luke 10:38-42). And unfortunately, me. So, time to refocus. Shut out the world, open the Book, pray a focused, not-by-the-seat-of-my-panty-pant-pants prayer.

It’s not a difficult concept. Just hard to do … when there’s much to do.

We’re all familiar with carpe diem – seize the day! But when it comes to refocusing, sometimes all we need is to carpe minutam – seize the minute. Refocusing on Christ doesn’t have to take copious amounts of time. As a mom, I’ve done everything from listen to a sermon as I clean the potties, to read a Psalm while I use the potty, to pray for my family in the shower.

The good news is that Jesus meets us where we’re at in life. So if you’re convinced you don’t have a spare second, re-evaluate. Everyone has spare seconds that add up to a few minutes, or a few minutes that add up to a half hour. The point for this Christmas is: somehow, some way, carpe minutam and get with God.