{the essentials} now.

A couple of Saturday nights ago,

I made the mistake of going to Target on a Saturday night.

We had moved into our new rental house that day

and I had a list of things we had to have.

So there I was, in Target, along with everyone within a 50 mile radius.

At 8pm.

And it was a zoo.

As I started to push my red cart around,

I watched the people surrounding me. 

And then it dawned on me

why these people were here.

They were on vacation.

It was a Saturday night,

and vacations tend to start on Saturdays.

Everyone not staying on Disney property

was here.

In my Target.

And they had lists.

They turned corners and peered down aisles

unsure as to where those important items were located.

They needed certain things

to make their vacation

that much better.

And so they searched and moved to and next aisle 

and searched some more.

I turned a corner.

There was a family standing there next to their red cart.

Dad was walking toward the cart with a box of Twinkies in each hand.

He had a look of fear and bewilderment on his face,

like he hoped these Twinkies would do.

And like he feared they wouldn't.

And, when you're exhausted and unsure, 

why get just one box of what you hope will do?

This Christmas,

what will satisfy you?

What will be the biggest, most concrete need that you have?

What about the people surrounding you?

Are the things most important?

Most essential?

All of the stuff?

The fluff and the loud?

Or maybe, 

could the essential

be the quiet,

the silent,

the calm?

If dad hadn't found the Twinkies,

his vacation would have still gone on.

The sugary little back-from-extinction snack cakes

weren't the most important thing.

It was time with his sweet family.

It was a moment or two of sheer joy shared.

It was a knowing smile and a bubble of laughter

that comes from deep in one's soul.

Perhaps that's what God has for you and for me this Christmas.

Let us get quiet

and observant 

and hope-filled.

May we strive to see

the essential 

and the important

and the worthy.

And 

may we have 

the wisdom 

to let 

everything else

fall away.

But Mary kept all these things 

like a secret treasure in her heart. 

She thought about them over and over.  

~Luke 2:19

Many blessings,

Deni