As December reaches a fever pitch in joyful anticipation of Christmas, I’ve noticed that I’m feeling a little restless. Big parts of my soul want to do nothing but bake cookies and wrap presents and sip peppermint tea by the fireplace. But some part of my mind is already starting to think about the year ahead…about the things I want to accomplish and what adjustments I’ll need to make to bring them to fruition.
It’s like I’m caught in a tug of war between the present and the future.
It’s such a predictable pattern for many of us in December that I’m left wondering if maybe we’re supposed to straddle two worlds this month, determined to savor each moment of the present while allowing ourselves to dwell in the possibility of a fresh start. It would almost be appealing, except that it often creates unbearable tension!
It’s frustrating to have an idea and then find you don’t have time to bring it to life. 
Case in point, my team and I met this morning. While we did manage to emerge with an updated task list, some tweaks to our workflow, and a new set of meetings on our calendars, we spent just as much time discussing holiday gifts and travel plans! We had no shortage of ideas for 2016, but as a group of working mothers racing toward Christmas, what we do not have is time to execute them.
YET, I keep reminding myself. We don’t have time yet.
Maybe you can relate.
The energy of the idea is building inside you and it wants to make its way into the world, but something else (Christmas, a child with the flu, a work deadline) demands your time. Do you try to squeeze it in knowing you can’t really do it justice until something gives?
Or do you just wait?
I know that is practically heresy in our “You can do it all” multi-tasking culture, but what if some things really can wait? What if nothing particularly terrible will happen if you hold onto an idea for a while until you can give it the attention it deserves?
“To everything there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
As we sit in the quiet wonder of this season that we look forward to all year long, let’s resolve to withstand the tension. Let the ideas surface. Jot them down for safekeeping. Shape them in our minds.
But as for bringing those ideas to life? Maybe that can wait.
