Christmas Break Reflections - Finding Calm in the Whirlwind
I'm nearing the end of Christmas Break and will be going back to work on Monday (January 8). I was supposed to start back at school tomorrow, but dangerous sub-zero windchills in the forecast led to school being canceled tomorrow and Friday. Now I get two extra days of break plus the weekend to enjoy before going back. Among other things on my to-do list, I get extra time to finish some grading - oops! - and take down my Christmas decorations. (Which will be on Sunday so at least some decorations stay up until Epiphany.) This post is meant to express my various rambling thoughts from Christmas Break. I hope they come together into a cohesive theme.
People tend to comment that teachers "have it easy" because they get so much time off for summer, Christmas, Easter, etc. Although for me, and most teachers, I devote so much time to my work during the school year that I need all this time off to catch up on all the other areas of my life. Christmas break in particular is the pinnacle of this "catching up" because it falls close to halfway through the school year. I feel like the fall months (September, October, November, December) are such a whirlwind every year. It's one event, holiday, and new activity after another - start of school, football/marching band season, youth group, Halloween, report cards, parent/teacher conferences, Thanksgiving, start of winter color guard season, and finally ending with Christmas and everything that comes with it. And that's all the normal stuff that happens every year for me.
This year I also added in wedding planning tasks and a graduate course in reading methods (required by the State of Michigan to move up to the next level of teaching certification). I plugged through weeks of academic reading, online course discussion posts, and researching and writing a 16-page paper. My paper was due December 15 and it was a huge relief to push the send button and get this requirement out of my life. And through all this time progress was also made on the wedding by booking a wedding planner, florist, save-the-date/invitation creator, cake baker (David, my fiancé's sister), attending a pre-marriage seminar, starting meetings with our mentor couple from the parish, and buying my wedding dress. (It's gorgeous and I can't wait to show it to you after the wedding!)
When Advent arrived, I tried really hard to take the idea of slowing down and reflecting on the Lord's coming seriously, but it didn't happen very well. I made time to journal in the Blessed Is She Advent journal and watch the videos from the Dynamic Catholic Best Advent Ever program (and try to discuss the video each day with David) and mentally I got plenty of good things out of this, but I didn't connect on an emotional and spiritual level as much as I hoped. Color guard, school, and Christmas responsibilities made it hard to focus on the Lord this year, more than it has in the last couple years. (It also didn't help that I had a small health problem flare up through most of December. It seems to have resolved now, but it was hard to concentrate on spiritual growth during Advent when I was worried about my health and occasionally in pain.) I have a lot of work to do (and need a lot of grace from God) in the New Year to get my spiritual life where it needs to be.
When Christmas break finally came on December 21, I was so grateful for the change of pace that always comes with a school break. Even though the next two weeks would contain a mile-long "to-do" list of holiday gatherings, shopping, color guard show design work, grading, and more wedding planning, I knew I would also have the time and space to take stock of my life. I need Christmas Break every year to review everything that has happened in the fall months, slow down and take the time to get all the pieces of my life on the right track, and then go forward into the second half of the school year with confidence. All the traditions and family gatherings around Christmas also lead me to a lot of reflection about my role within my family, how that role may be evolving and changing, and how I can serve better within my family. Knowing I'm about to get married, that role is definitely going to change in years to come, and I also have to learn my role within David's family.
One thought that occurred to me back during Advent, and continued to sit in the back of my mind throughout the Christmas season, was the fact that this would be my last Advent/Christmas/New Year's as a single (as in unmarried) woman. At this time next year, David and I would be celebrating our first Christmas together as a couple, living in the same home, and figuring out traditions that would be uniquely our own. Everything I've previously done on my own at this time of year will now happen with another person's life to consider at all times. David and I have already gone through two years of running between our families for Christmas celebrations (last year when we were still dating and this year while engaged), so we already have some understanding of celebrating Christmas as a couple, but next year will definitely be different. We also spent a lot of time together during my Christmas break talking about our hopes and dreams for our married life together, what's going well in our relationship so far and what we need to work on. Christmas Break turned out to be the perfect time to stop and reflect on all of this too, at almost the exact halfway point between our engagement in July and our wedding next August.
Inspired by the Blessed Is She "Teachable Tuesday" video on choosing a word for the year, I spent some time praying for God to reveal a word to me for 2018. The word that was revealed was peace. This is a word I hear a lot in my prayer already, so I was hoping for something different in my first "word of the year" but it seems that God really wants to hammer this one home for me. At this point, I think God is trying to help me seek inner peace through Him, especially when the world around me is spinning in its usual whirlwind. I need to seek the peace of Christ and let myself be less influenced by the world. I'm sure there will be more in the months to come, so I'll keep listening.
In the meantime, I'm chipping away at more wedding planning and writing my lesson plans for the first week back at school in January. There will be a lot of time spent mentally preparing for the future in the weeks and months to come, but I will try to seek the peace of Christ in the present moments.
People tend to comment that teachers "have it easy" because they get so much time off for summer, Christmas, Easter, etc. Although for me, and most teachers, I devote so much time to my work during the school year that I need all this time off to catch up on all the other areas of my life. Christmas break in particular is the pinnacle of this "catching up" because it falls close to halfway through the school year. I feel like the fall months (September, October, November, December) are such a whirlwind every year. It's one event, holiday, and new activity after another - start of school, football/marching band season, youth group, Halloween, report cards, parent/teacher conferences, Thanksgiving, start of winter color guard season, and finally ending with Christmas and everything that comes with it. And that's all the normal stuff that happens every year for me.
This year I also added in wedding planning tasks and a graduate course in reading methods (required by the State of Michigan to move up to the next level of teaching certification). I plugged through weeks of academic reading, online course discussion posts, and researching and writing a 16-page paper. My paper was due December 15 and it was a huge relief to push the send button and get this requirement out of my life. And through all this time progress was also made on the wedding by booking a wedding planner, florist, save-the-date/invitation creator, cake baker (David, my fiancé's sister), attending a pre-marriage seminar, starting meetings with our mentor couple from the parish, and buying my wedding dress. (It's gorgeous and I can't wait to show it to you after the wedding!)
When Advent arrived, I tried really hard to take the idea of slowing down and reflecting on the Lord's coming seriously, but it didn't happen very well. I made time to journal in the Blessed Is She Advent journal and watch the videos from the Dynamic Catholic Best Advent Ever program (and try to discuss the video each day with David) and mentally I got plenty of good things out of this, but I didn't connect on an emotional and spiritual level as much as I hoped. Color guard, school, and Christmas responsibilities made it hard to focus on the Lord this year, more than it has in the last couple years. (It also didn't help that I had a small health problem flare up through most of December. It seems to have resolved now, but it was hard to concentrate on spiritual growth during Advent when I was worried about my health and occasionally in pain.) I have a lot of work to do (and need a lot of grace from God) in the New Year to get my spiritual life where it needs to be.
When Christmas break finally came on December 21, I was so grateful for the change of pace that always comes with a school break. Even though the next two weeks would contain a mile-long "to-do" list of holiday gatherings, shopping, color guard show design work, grading, and more wedding planning, I knew I would also have the time and space to take stock of my life. I need Christmas Break every year to review everything that has happened in the fall months, slow down and take the time to get all the pieces of my life on the right track, and then go forward into the second half of the school year with confidence. All the traditions and family gatherings around Christmas also lead me to a lot of reflection about my role within my family, how that role may be evolving and changing, and how I can serve better within my family. Knowing I'm about to get married, that role is definitely going to change in years to come, and I also have to learn my role within David's family.
One thought that occurred to me back during Advent, and continued to sit in the back of my mind throughout the Christmas season, was the fact that this would be my last Advent/Christmas/New Year's as a single (as in unmarried) woman. At this time next year, David and I would be celebrating our first Christmas together as a couple, living in the same home, and figuring out traditions that would be uniquely our own. Everything I've previously done on my own at this time of year will now happen with another person's life to consider at all times. David and I have already gone through two years of running between our families for Christmas celebrations (last year when we were still dating and this year while engaged), so we already have some understanding of celebrating Christmas as a couple, but next year will definitely be different. We also spent a lot of time together during my Christmas break talking about our hopes and dreams for our married life together, what's going well in our relationship so far and what we need to work on. Christmas Break turned out to be the perfect time to stop and reflect on all of this too, at almost the exact halfway point between our engagement in July and our wedding next August.
Inspired by the Blessed Is She "Teachable Tuesday" video on choosing a word for the year, I spent some time praying for God to reveal a word to me for 2018. The word that was revealed was peace. This is a word I hear a lot in my prayer already, so I was hoping for something different in my first "word of the year" but it seems that God really wants to hammer this one home for me. At this point, I think God is trying to help me seek inner peace through Him, especially when the world around me is spinning in its usual whirlwind. I need to seek the peace of Christ and let myself be less influenced by the world. I'm sure there will be more in the months to come, so I'll keep listening.
In the meantime, I'm chipping away at more wedding planning and writing my lesson plans for the first week back at school in January. There will be a lot of time spent mentally preparing for the future in the weeks and months to come, but I will try to seek the peace of Christ in the present moments.
"At this point, I think God is trying to help me seek inner peace through Him, especially when the world around me is spinning in its usual whirlwind." Loved this line and can totally relate. Wishing you a peaceful 2018!
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