'Tis the night before Christmas

It's Christmas Eve. For the first time in years, I actually have all the gift wrapping done - usually I don't get this job done until late in the day or evening on the night before Christmas. I finally have a chance to sit down and relax a bit. Usually by the time I quit for the night, I can't think about anything except my pillow. Maybe I'll actually get one post done this month!

It's been an incredibly busy month, most of it spent focusing on Psalty the Singing Song Book! Several months ago, when we heard that our church was going to do "Psalty's Christmas Calamity" for a Christmas musical production, I volunteered to help with costumes (WHAT was I thinking!?). I wasn't feeling well at the time and I was rather reluctant to be the one in total charge of the costume department because I didn't know what was wrong with me yet. That was before we found out that my gall bladder was causing the problems.

I learned some important lessons in the process of making the one and only costume that was required for this production:

1. Make sure you know beforehand what you're volunteering to do - though I'd heard of Psalty years ago, I hadn't ever actually seen Psalty or the costume before and I had no idea what I was in for. Amy and I both love to sew, and we thought we could help with that. Turns out the only costume needed was the big blue "songbook". Someone up there has a sense of humor.

2. Don't be afraid to deviate from the instructions when needed. I discovered rather late in the game that the instructions for making the costume included some...shall we say, completely USELESS steps that were a total waste of time. A LOT of time.

3. Elmer's glue is completely useless when you're trying to glue foam rubber pieces together. Use a hot glue gun, and make sure you have a LOT of extra glue sticks. Like about 200.

4. Have a teenager with a driver's license on call at a moment's notice so she can run to Hobby Lobby for more glue.

5. Don't try to use spray glue in the dark. It's bad enough in the daylight. (Maybe I should explain - we used spray glue to attach the blue fabric to the foam rubber for the book cover, and we did this outside on the patio. I've had experience with spray glue before and I didn't want to spray that stuff in the house. Unfortunately, it got dark before we were done and so we had a little trouble...)

6. Have above mentioned teenager take over meals for the duration of the costume production - at least during the last phases when the deadline is looming near on the horizon.

7. Write down notes on changes and improvements to the costume production; that way, the next person who does this will hopefully not have as much difficulty.

8. Pray that the costume will last long enough that the next person won't have to do this!

9. Instruct previously mentioned teenager to bring sandwiches and ice water at appropriate times. Hands shaking due to hunger make for sloppy work, especially when working with a hot glue gun.

10. Don't forget to give God ALL THE CREDIT for everything. Not only did He help me with getting this massive project done just in the nick of time, He even provided the blue knit fabric, at no charge, more than TWO years ago! That fabric was given to me by my mom two years ago and I'd forgotten all about it. Just when I was agonizing over where in the world was I ever going to find a pair of pants and long sleeved shirt, in a lightweight knit (NOT fleece - much too hot) in the same shade of blue that I did the book cover in...the Lord reminded me of a big bundle of fabric in my fabric box that just might do it. I know it had to have been He who put that into my head, because I honestly don't remember ever seeing that fabric before. Sure enough, when I looked in the box, there it was, all five and a half yards of it. I got it out and held it up to the book fabric, and nearly burst into tears at God's goodness. It was a perfect match. And there was enough of it to produce the entire costume and accommodate my mistakes.

God provided me with the physical ability to do this. It took me a long time to recover from my gall bladder surgery, but since starting on this project, I haven't had any more pain or stomach problems. I still have to be careful what I eat, but it seems my digestive system isn't nearly as oversensitive as it was for months. Our Great Physician healed me just in time.

God also provided me with the skills and tools to do this - all I needed were supplies but I already had all the tools I needed.

I'd never have had enough time to get all the Christmas shopping done if I'd had to do it the conventional way, so I'm also praising Him for providing online shopping with free shipping options! That saved us not only a lot of time, but a good deal of money, too. I was able to order the majority of the kids' gifts online at prices that were approximately 40% less than the retail stores were asking, and with free shipping...THANK YOU, LORD!

So, now I can focus on our family and the holidays. We're so thankful for our church family and the friendships we have with them. This has been the best year we've had in...well, years!