Tonight I attacked what I call “Christmas dust.” Some of you know exactly what I mean – the tiny pieces of styrofoam, vinyl tree needles, cardboard scraps, cookie crumbs, and pieces of paper that seem to come from no where.

A few years ago, we gave our granddaughters cake pans that would form a small, three-tier cake. They decided to bake a cake that night and got started right away. Unfortunately, my pantry was missing a few things and the cake was not the best. But, it had lots of icing and even more green and red sugar crystals – and so did my kitchen. You see, at some point in the decorating process, both containers of colored sugar were dropped. After sweeping and mopping, we got “most” of the sugar up. But, when we redid our kitchen several years later (replacing cabinets and appliances) I found sooo much red and green sugar crystals hiding in the books and crannies — Christmas dust!

In the old days, when we brought “real” Christmas trees into the houses, we would find tree needles in the carpet for months. Every time we vacuumed, the smell of pine would fill the house — Christmas dust!

And, styrofoam packaging!! Those little needs of packaging material float through the air and stick to everything — Christmas dust!

In a “perfect” home, there would be no “Christmas dust.” I imagine floors that would not need to be swept and styrofoam particles that would stay in the box. But, I have no desire to live in such a place. I want the cookie crumbs and the tree needles. I want the “Christmas dust” for it means that the family and friends are welcome, that packages have been wrapped, that old decorations have been brought down from the storeroom, and that sweet memories have been awakened and new memories are being formed.

Yes, I vacuumed and tried to get the “Christmas dust” under control but I would never trade the my dust for any “perfect” house. You see, we want our home to be filled with the joy and stuff that is Christmas — dust and all!!

Love,

Jill (just one of God’s kids)