Pass You By

Photography by Madi Flournoy Henderson || Top: Hinge || Shoes: Target || Jeans: Madewell 

I have told you many times about my love for all things striped! This is especially true when those stripes are blue and white. Hello. I gravitate towards them every single time. Hinge (the brand, NOT the dating app) is one of my favorites from Nordstrom. So, you can only imagine my excitement when I found this striped peplum sweater hanging ever so perfectly in Nordstrom. I knew it was something that I couldn’t pass by.
 
While the holiday season is a time of joy and excitement, it brings mixed emotions for a lot of us. Indeed, for everything that is so magical about Christmas, it can also be one of the more stressful times of the year. I am no stranger to this feeling.

Because I am a school teacher, I know that stressed out feeling better than most. This time of year, my students somehow create a whole new level of LOUD. But I hate that in all their excitement, I just want them to be still. A stressed out teacher and loud noises is never a good combination. It makes me want to push them out the door and on to winter break. However, once May arrives and they head to the next grade, I will be begging for just a little more time. And because of that, I don’t want this special time of celebration for my kiddos to pass me by. I want to treasure these holiday moments with them.  
 
Similarly, I don’t want this Christmas season to pass you by. Don’t make the time spent with your loved ones and friends something you just check off your list. Shauna said it best when she wrote, “Don’t let this season pass without taking the time and energy and creativity and risk to speak plainly with the people you love about exactly what they bring to your life.” And that’s exactly what I want you to do. I pray you embrace the season instead of letting the stress get in the way. And I pray that we see that there is too much work to be done by showing love in His name than to worry about all the rest. 

"Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you" - Colossians 3:16