The Antidote for the "To Do" List

12 days 'til Christmas. Honesty, I am not ready. As a mother who sets her watch by the calendar, this could spell trouble.

So here I am, wondering if I should stay up an extra hour tonight to strategize and figure out my "to do" list for the next few days. The words of poet Robert Frost echo in my brain, "I have miles to go before I sleep."

I've been having an uncommon Advent, and by that I mean that there are certain common, cyclical, things I do every year to prepare our hearth and home for Christmas, but as of this writing I have not done any of them. This is not typical for a "to do" listmaker like myself. I laughed as my friend phoned me to say this week requires "special ops" to take place at home to prepare for Christmas! It was a great expression that captured the mode I am usually in by now, but not. My "to do" list has been sabotaged by real life-- John Lennon said it best: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

The List, usually an effective tool for me, has become a tyranny. I still need to shop. I still need to decorate. I still have cards to write and send. I still have all the normal chores of the home. I still need to find and purchase a Christmas tree. The list is growing longer by the day.

I've been hiding under a blanket of discouragement. For this week I've learned of the sudden death of someone we know, plus my husband--my partner in Christmas decorating and Christmas shopping is MIA on a business trip--and, we've had a foot and a half of snow to trudge through! In between, I am finishing up a home-improvement project that should never have gotten started in this busy season, and I still have a paper to write! (Ouch! It hurts to think about it all.)

None of these situations ever made it onto my Advent List. Instead, they are rewriting it.

This third week of Advent, we've lit the pink candle on the Advent Wreath. This means we are living the week of Rejoicing that Christ and Christmas is coming soon. Traditionally, this has always been THE WEEK of JOYFUL preparations for the Gohn household, led by yours truly. The JOY week is giving me the nudge I need to look again, to start again. And so I look to the Christ who is coming and ask what to do with "TO DO'S?"

The answer: Change them into "trust You's."

Jesus, I trust You, to help me complete my shopping and decorating chores.

Jesus, I trust You, to give me the time and energy for the projects that need my special attention.

Jesus, I trust You, to lead me with the holy knowledge that, once upon a time, a holy family traveled toward Christmas without an agenda of "to do's," but with a singlemindedness to trust YOU.

Copyright 2005 Patricia W. Gohn