Christmas
Tidings of Great Joy!
2013, December
2013, December
Today,
after church services, it was snowing!! and is the first snowfall of
the winter of 2013 and I am pretty sure not the last. ( although last
winter had a pretty poor showing in the snowy mix category.)
Speaking
of last Christmas, let's just get all pleasantries out of the way and
say that God is amazing. I am not referring only to His gift of
Jesus Christ to be born, live among men, then die and return to heaven...just
for us to have our sins atoned for. Nope, I am also referring to His
work in my own personal life on an intimate, personal level.
My life has been rather 'out there' for all of my friends and family to know-no
secrets or ghosts in my closet-just a bunch of outdated clothes and
old fashioned things to discard.( a work in progress )
After praying almost daily for
my former beloved husband's return and restoration to the family, I
was able to see God work in a way that was surprisingly simple, last
Christmas.
As I drove to Charleston, SC to spend last Christmas holidays with
Paul, Allison, Isabel , Ava and Luke, David flew into Philadelphia,
by way of Charleston and New Mexico, and reappeared on the horizon. I
have not seen or spoken to him, but I prayed fervently and often for the children to be
restored to their father in some way, and that has been happening. Nothing takes away bitterness or anger better than loving someone enough to pray for their life to be blessed and a blessing.
Should you be a praying person, believing as I do that God does all
things well and redeems the broken places in His own way and time,
thank Him with me and pray as I do , that God Himself would be
glorified in this family still.
Interestingly,
(to me anyway), in today's message at church , a statement made,
simple yet profound.
“Man cannot reach out and be good enough for
God, God must reach out to us. This is the Advent season - God reaching out to us to come to Him..”
Do you feel relieved hearing
that? Those nasty thoughts , deeds, conversations, lost tempers,
cruel remarks...do not change that God loves me. He loves me. He
answers my heart cries, silent yearnings, quiet longings. Ah, thanks
be to God. I love the Christ of Christmas.
The
children are grown, the year has been quiet , without extraordinary
and filled with ordinary. I love the ordinary blessings of Skype
letting me see my Theodore grow , fulfilling the prayers of His
people for life and health and normalcy. Rachel is currently in a
play, returning to her passion for acting, and playing with Theodore
too, as Aric and she enjoy the West way too much to want to return
East. As any normal mother of far away children....I am praying.
(wink, wink)
The
ordinary occurrence of my sister Paula, in remission from cancer(not so ordinary but rather a gift from God) and
spending a week together in Ocean City NJ in the Spring. This was one of my unexpected
fun times, even though it snowed at the Beach!
I am ever so thankful that another ordinary ,
extraordinary joy was driving to Charleston SC to share firstborn
Paul's 40th birthday -together eating in a less than
extraordinary Brazilian restaurant and seeing my 3 sweet Southern
grandbabies twice in one year!
Isabel, Ava, and Luke, swimming in the
ocean in October and learning to ride a 2 wheeler! Such normal every
day fun to share in.
It was
also an ordinary week if it included phone calls and drop in visits
from Julie , Adam and Ethan who live only a mile away. Ethan's family
found quite a cute Puggle named Watson to love this year, and it looks like their cuddly Thomas the bunny now has a brother.
Adam and Julie both work in the financial fields, so my future should be secure (another wink, wink).
Margie
, Joel and their 5 children [Eliot is 12!, Simon, Jesse, Nora and
Bianca] had an ordinary year until July when they sold their home and
moved within about the same number of weeks that it was blocks from
their old place in Kennett Square, PA.! Seeing God work out those
details was another gift of personal blessing amongst seemingly
random circumstances. God loves my children, and I thank Him. Their
home is often the one we gravitate to for family gatherings, and I
thank God for Margie's gift of hostessing with calm.
The Becca and Steve family of four are thriving, even as they utilize the skills God gifted them with in transforming their very old home to a home that will someday need to be featured in a Renovator's Magazine – poor Martha Stewart has met her match. Aidan and Evelyn cannot possibly be in school all day, it was merely the blink of an eye ago when they were born! Steve graduated from taking some pretty tough courses in school while he pounded nails and cleaned out the pool we all swam in this summer- I am thanking God for giving Steve perseverance, and Steve just wants a buck this week hunting! :-)
Joshua, my crazy 'NJ Devils or die' hockey fan, with a side love of all thing shark related, is enjoying a solid career at UPS, and will not take responsibility for your late Christmas packages! He lives in Philly in a neighborhood he won't let me visit because of the gang activity- you imagine for yourself how this mom prays!
And
then there is Andrew who is a quarter of a century in age ,with life
experiences worth at least double that. Praying for him to secure a
job has been one of those requests I need to trust God with, all the
while hoping it takes shorter time than those 12 years I prayed for David.
:-) Andy will always be my
baby but his beautiful CAM , pit bull baby , may drive me crazy with
his large presence. I know that as my kids grow and change and develop their own lives and families, I am no longer an integral part of the process. In my head I am fully aware of the need to back away and let God and them work out 'stuff'. But seriously, I wish there was a pill to take that gave that an easy slide down to my heart strings. It pains me to watch, and pushes my faith to the limits of where I think God wants me walking. I am not, nor ever was, a risk taker. Watching the Amazing Race on television truly terrifies me-especially some of those bungee jumps! How can I compete in this Amazing Race of life after my children have grown up and need me no more? My job helps and is a constant blessing; my friends are all fumbling toward the finish line with me, and yet, somehow, we are strengthened by each other. When a friend says “I get it” there is more comfort than I ever imagined.
There
is no way I could tell you in this annual letter just how blessed I
am . I know what grace is because I am given it day by day, minute by
minute. I have NO doubt that next year this letter may include
extraordinary drama and pain again, for that is why we need a Savior.
I am, however , preparing myself now for those days by encouraging
YOU in these better ones.
Stay tuned, and have a very Merry Christmas,
because Jesus loves you, this I KNOW.
