It’s 4 days and 29 minutes until Christmas.

The good news: I’m nearly done with all my Christmas present buying with 4 whole days to spare. Only the dreaded wrapping is left.

The bad news: I am just not emotionally and mentally prepared for the fact that Christmas Day is 4 days away. I seriously need for time to slow down so I can process it all.

I’m learning that if I make Christmas all about one day in the calendar year, then I usually end up feeling let down the day after. But if I remember that Christmas is more a state of mind than a 24-hour period, then I do better.

I love the words of a redeemed Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol:“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!”

If Christmas is eating a lot and unwrapping presents and hanging out with family, then sure, there’s bound to be a letdown at some point, but if Christmas is about God breaking through into history in the form of an infant born in Bethlehem so long ago who grew into the Savior of the world, then Christmas can happen every day of the year and not just one.

I think I choose the latter.

Oh, and it’s now 4 days and 21 minutes to Christmas.