Enough

Oh my. These past few months have brought ups and downs, rejoicing and weeping, strength and weakness, joy and sorrow...all, I believe, from the hand of a loving Lord. And I am learning that "enough" is the right choice for me at this season.  

This week, I decided to move into what I am calling our Holiday/Emergency School Schedule. Together, we will have Bible reading, Bible memory, and reading from our current history book, Abraham Lincoln's World. On her own, Bekah will do math and her assigned reading (either literature or history), as well as practice piano. We are skipping poetry, composer study, picture study, daily vocabulary and grammar exercises, geography, and science. There may be days that some of those things get done, but the goal is to complete the Holiday/Emergency School schedule each day. 

For now, it is enough.  

If you have known me very long, you know that I love, love, love Thanksgiving. And I love decorating for Thanksgiving and planning different themes and place cards and table settings every year. But this year. This year I am not ready. The plans I had for the children's table were too ambitious for this busy season. I never settled on a theme for the adult tables. I have not been able to focus. Last night, as we were eating carryout food, I remarked that I had no idea what I was going to have on the Thanksgiving tables. "I might just use this," I kind of joked as I pointed to the candle centerpiece that has been on my kitchen table all of autumn. And then Kati said, "Why not?" And I thought, "Why not?" And suddenly  it seemed like just the right thing. 

It is enough. 

Our Thanksgiving guests are arriving today. There are no make-ahead dishes in the freezer. No tempting cake in the cake dome. Clean sheets will be put on at the last possible minute. Okay, full confession...dusting and vacuuming will be done at the last possible minute too. But I have given myself permission to simplify. And our guests are soooo accommodating, so easy-to-please. We will eat simple food and linger over coffee and cookies. (Hooray for two batches of cookies made this week!) We will talk and laugh and probably cry. We will watch the kids play. We will celebrate together. 

And it will be enough. More than enough.

It is not the season for perfect. For getting it all done. For a Martha Stewart holiday. For checking everything on the to-do list. 

It is the season of enough. 

And in this season, if (when) I am called to do hard things, to live hard things, to glorify Him in painful circumstances, He is enough. 

When I am at the end of my resources, when I am not sure which step to take next, He is enough.

Whether the path is busy or bumpy or bleak, He is enough, more than enough.

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I am stepping away from my blog for a few days because this season demands my focus. But before I go, I want to wish you a blessed Thanksgiving! May you count your blessings and may your heart be filled with praise to the Giver!