SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS

 I look around me and see so many different faces, hear so many different points of view and all of them matter. So much hurt and loneliness oozing out at every opportunity; and yet so much hope! A new year is just around the corner and with it potential for new outcomes and maybe a little more give in the restrictive ropes we’re all tied up in. After all, the year ahead can’t possibly be any worse than the year just past. Or can it?

Well, I do not wish to step into that proverbial ‘cow pie’! We really don’t know. What I do know is that right here and now I’m feeling a tad lonely just knowing that we don’t even have the option of taking a short drive or an even shorter flight and throwing our arms around our kids and of course giving the grandkids those big sloppy kisses they all love so much!

I do know that I have a choice to make here; I can bemoan the sad facts of my life or I can choose to brighten the lives of those that I happen to cross paths with from time to time. At times those paths cross randomly with no planning on my part, but because it is Christmas and I am not able to see my fourteen kids or twenty grandkids right now I purposefully plan my days around blessing other’s who ARE in my life at this time. All kinds of cookies and sweet rolls wherever there is space to store them until they can be delivered some star studded night just before the big day. Gifts being bought and wrapped to surprise some unsuspecting people with a porch drop, all the while trying to keep my focus on the One whom we celebrate on this special day.

You see, I figure that love doesn’t need to run in families only. Love needs to run where love is needed; hope needs to rise in hearts that are desperate for something positive to look forward to. And peace, that is something the whole world needs more than ever right now! After all that’s why Jesus came and that is why we have Christmas, and that is what I, personally celebrate at this time each year. Yes, this year will be very different but just as Jesus came to deliver love, hope and peace to this hurting world, my desire is to deliver the same in my little corner of the world.

I wish you all a good dose of love, joy, hope and peace this Christmas as we join each other on the way to the party!