Thank You

First of all, thank you friends for your words of hope and encouragement. We are doing OK off and on.

I was just thinking this morning, how grateful i am that God doesn't dump all our "sad" on us at once. Even in grieving, it does not hit us all at once, but there are waves of it that come and go, and they are interspersed with encouragement and life's little joys.

For instance, we were not going to get a Christmas tree this year. We didn't know when we might have to go down for Mom's memorial, our daughter will be at the hospital with our newest family addition, and the kids will be at the other grandmas for the time she is in the hospital. So a Christmas tree and decorations just seemed like one more thing to do and who would even see it.

Last night though, when i got home from the shop, Scott had bought a tree, and had our two boxes of Christmas decorations down. My first thought was " oh, my, this is just one more thing to think about and do". Fortunately my outward response was one of pleasantness. He thought it would lift our spirits to have a tree and some lights and cheerfulness at home. As my heart was not really in it at the start and I was tired, Scott started decorating right after dinner, starting with the lights. You have to know this is the guy who usually sits there while the grand kids and I decorate. I helped with the lights, and then while i answered email, he started carefully placing tinsel on the tree. He was doing such a wonderful job that i let him finish. It looks wonderful with just the lights and tinsel, so we have decided not to put the other ornaments on.
In the midst of this, I started to get more excited about decorating and thought some greenery and lights on top of the buffet would be nice. I ended up cleaning off most of the shelves, and decided if nothing else we would have two rooms that resembled a Christmas celebration. Today I will bring some extra garlands and lights home for the shop, and will enjoy decorating the buffet.

It has brought a spark of excitement back, and since we are getting a late start we will probably just leave the tree up till Valentines Day! =0))

Seriously, amazing what a few words from friends, even ones you've never met, and few twinkle lights can do to brighten your spirits.

So, Happy Birthday Jesus. Thank you for all your blessings, for calm, and a smile in the midst of the storm, and thank you, that you only give us life's 'sad' in little bits at a time.

"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the Heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."
Ps 36:5

Blessings and peace as you celebrate the birthday of our King.