Simple Gifts #1

I feel kind of bad, because I'm always on a bit of a rant about music.
I don't know if it's a first-born tendency, or just the way I'm made,
but for some reason I have a terrible time letting this go.
I'm the same way about baby names (I want to tell people, "Name your baby this, not that.")
And about decorating.
I want to follow strangers around Goodwill and beg them not to buy the stuff, the worthless
and exhausting stuff, that they have piled into their carts.

Not just Goodwill, either.
Macy's and Marshall's and Target and every other store is filled with things
that simply should not be brought home.

It's better to have space, and simplicity,
than to cram the house from stem to stern.

So here's my little gift to you,
take it or leave it.

Make your Christmas simple.

That's it.

I'm learning this as I go, and it isn't easy.
For one who loves to make everything beautiful and memorable
(while not spending money),
this idea of simple is hard to follow.

It helps to have a baby who's into everything.
It helps to have a husband who puts down his foot about getting boxes from the highest shelves.

It helps, so much, to wake up singing,
"In the morning when I rise,
In the morning when I rise,
In the morning when I rise,
Give me Jesus."

A wonderful thing about December is that my usual rant about music abates somewhat.
Except for the occasional rendition of "Christmas Shoes,"
a song that should go away forever,
the radio is a safe and happy place these days.

Yesterday I listened to my new Emmylou cd, a birthday gift from my sister.
We played it all day long.

I hope you love it too. This track has background vocals by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and (gulp) Neil Young. I know Selah sings this song. But most of you have probably heard their version, and not Emmylou's. 
I'll link it at the end of the post. 

Malachi thinks Daddy's mandolin belongs to him.

His big hands remind me so much of his Grampa Murphy's hands.

In the weeks before I wrote this, Nate cleared tons of stuff out of our basement and garage.
I took two trips to Goodwill to unload things.
It felt great.
Then I threw away my dried hydrangeas (I recommend throwing out all dried flowers, you won't regret it).
Then I cleared off a kitchen counter. Just one.
But it was a start.

How are you keeping Christmas simple this year?

I'd love to know.

Listen to "Light of the Stable" here.