<p align="JUSTIFY"><strong>By Jonathan Wright</strong></p> <p align="JUSTIFY">And now it begins—in earnest.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">With Thanksgiving behind us, the shortest-possible Thanksgiving-to-Christmas period has begun (Thanksgiving came on the latest-possible date this year).</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">I’m no more ready for it than I ever am. It creeps up on me every year this way, mercilessly drawing closer and closer while I struggle with the multitude of distractions so much a part of my everyday life. And then, before I can take another breath, settle my mind, and take it all in—it’s over for another year.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">I know, I know—we all need to proactively slow down and enjoy it while it’s here. Agreed. We need to savor every bit of the Christmas season while it’s still with us, drawing from its multitude of incomparable sensory experiences and heartwarming reunions of loved ones and friends.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">But let’s face it: well over one month from today it will all be over for another year. Although the decorations will be slow to come down, as we remove the 2013 calendar and replace it with the 2014 one, at that point we clearly know that it’s back to "normal" with the advent of a new year.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">If you’re anywhere over the age of 20, you know as well as I do that every Christmas season seems to go by more quickly. I don’t care if the stores start trotting out the Christmas decorations as early as August (and more and more of them do)—every year it all zips past us more quickly than the year before.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">So hey—think about it: there’s an up side to this as well.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">The Christmas season isn’t the only period that goes increasingly faster every year—it’s true of the entire year, of course.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">The maddening pace of working, paying bills, taking care of the kids, going to meetings, and focusing on endless responsibilities puts one’s world in an almost constant whirl. Regardless of what stage of life you’re in, unless you’re fully retired (not just "retired" from one job and now working another one), this really is true for all of us.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">So in the midst of your crazy treadmill of life, rejoice. If you find yourself lamenting the passing of the holiday season as the progressing calendar leaves it behind in the dust, just remember: Christmas will be back before you know it.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">The angels still want you to listen as they sing to you the wondrous news of a Savior who cares for you more than you could ever imagine, who wants to calm your heart and give you the most abundant life imaginable.</p> Sounds kind of like year-round Christmas to me.
