Magic Words

I had a brief meeting with our builder yesterday. He is very cautious about giving us false hope in terms of when the house will be finished. But, the trim is now all painted, and the colors are going on the walls starting today. Next week, the hardwood floors and cabinets are going in... Most of the bathroom floors are already finished. Jim, our general contractor commented, "I'm about to run out of questions to ask you."

"Really?" I replied, "How much longer do you think we have?"

(Then the magic words...) "There's a chance it will be done by Christmas."

Even if it is finished by then, we won't move until after the holiday. But, knowing how close we are is so incredibly exciting to me. Today, I think school will be canceled so I can start purging excess stuff from our house. Amazing how things can accumulate in only a few months.

Anyway, I'm so thrilled to be almost done with this process!! I can't wait to unpack all my homeschooling stuff. I can't wait to find the kids' winter hats, which are MIA at the moment. I can't wait to see the end result. I can't wait to have all our friends and family over to visit.

Interesting that this anticipation is corresponding timewise with Advent. My goal is to channel excitement for the new house into preparing our souls for the coming of the Christ Child. It will be a difficult exercise to keep ourselves (make that 'myself') focused on what's really important this time of year... Is God trying to teach me something here?? Somehow, I"m sure that He is.