Okay, so my closet wasn't quite this bad, but it definitely needed some culling. And of course this is the week every year when I take on that task and ride herd on the kids to do theirs. So this evening we drove to our neighborhood Donation Station with six big bags of clothes that had either been outgrown, outdated, or otherwise outlived their usefulness. Now our closets can "breathe" again and I'll actually be able to find that red turtleneck that's been hiding behind four other sweaters I never wear.

In truth, closet cleaning at the end of the year is a good metaphor for all those wonderful cleansing routines that are so suited for year's end...throwing out the old calendars and putting up the fresh new ones, getting all the old papers filed away, putting away Christmas wrap and making room for some fresh all-occasion wrap, looking at my list of books read in the old year and making a new one for '07, cleaning out my nightstand drawer and putting in some brand new "goodies", crossing answered prayer requests off my list and revamping it for a new year. I do love Christmas, but there's a special place in my heart for this "in-between" week, a time to rest, breathe deeply, pray, and listen for God's voice in all my surveying of priorities.

It's been a glorious holiday season in many ways, and now it's time to close my eyes, thank God for all the blessings of the season and the past twelve months, and wait for His direction in how I am to walk into a new year....