Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

This was my gift to myself from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. I wanted a memento to remember Christmas in NYC in 2015. I, also, wanted to remember the quiet places that we found throughout the weekend…starting with the 9/11 Memorial Museum. It was my first time going…

Brooke had ordered tickets for us earlier but still there was a long line to get in. However, it was a beautiful day and everyone was in great spirits so the wait turned out to be relatively short.

On the way to the museum Henry got down on his knees to take this picture of Brooke and me (shooting upward) in front of the World Trade Center. Great job Henry!

Before getting to the museum we went through the park area and there I saw “my” Survivor Tree. I felt like weeping with relief and joy….it was so beautiful with golden leaves…it looked like it had grown ten to fifteen feet taller since seeing it in the fall two years ago. It is definitely the most beautiful tree surrounding the museum now.

The only indicator that it was the Survivor Tree from 9/11 was the steel fence around it…we didn’t know where the plaque had gone that once identified it….none-the-less we recognized it instantly. I made the mistake of touching it and one of the park rangers shook her head at me. But she was nice about it and just being able to bond with the tree for a moment…to feel it…was all I needed for renewed strength. Sometimes we just have to return to nature for healing.

I could show lots of photos I took from the Memorial Museum but I have decided not to….Instead to just choose a few poignant ones to set the feel, the mood for this museum on sacred ground.

The first comes from a quote from Virgil that is spread across tiles of different colors of blue because the day the Twin Towers were hit…it was a beautiful blue-sky day. Survivors all described the shade of blue differently and today we know that we, as individuals, see colors differently according to our own unique color vision.

So the different shades of blue tiles represent each unidentified victim who died that day.

The wall, one of the most deeply personal aspects of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, separates the public area from a repository of nearly 8,000 unidentified human remains. Inscribed on it, visitors will read a line from Virgil’s “Aeneid”:

“No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”

I love that quote….no matter how long or briefly we stay on this earth within our own life journey…our presence is felt as part of the family connection of the universe. We existed, we lived, and we were loved.

The quiet and reverence settled in the farther we went and soon even whispers disappeared. The only sounds came from the videos of live reports going out that tragic day and testimonials of survivors.

At one point I found a bench and just sat down to watch the people and their reactions to different artifacts along the tour. It was then that I noticed there were no crying babies. Three young mothers passed me and in each case the baby was asleep or simply looking around wide-eyed…but not one single cry was heard. It was as if they too sensed that they were on hallowed ground.

And then I spotted this elderly couple….the husband’s reaction to one of the mangled firetrucks (ladders twisted and turned like paper mache) brought his wife to his side to comfort him. (Later discovered he was a fireman all his life from a small town in Oregon)

It took us much longer to complete the tour than we had anticipated so we grabbed some lunch and quickly went to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. By then we were quite weary…more emotionally probably than physically…but it transferred over to the physical and we were starting to feel like zombies.

It was terribly crowded…I just picked up my memoir (Christmas tree trinket) and looked around…but too tired to do the museum justice…so we headed back to get ready for supper at Henry’s and Lacy’s apartment….steak and potatoes….just perfect! Here are some views of their adorable place.

Then we were off to the big ticket event on our itinerary…The Rockettes! The only problem was all the streets getting to Radio City Hall were in a gridlock and several were closed off. Henry jumped out of the taxi and took off to the ticket counter to make sure we could get in if running late (we could)….we hung in the taxi a few more minutes and finally the taxi driver told us we needed to walk it…he was stuck and the road ahead closed.

Brooke had worn her high heel boots thinking we wouldn’t do any walking….but you would be so proud of her…she not only walked…she ran…she was not going to miss The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Hall. See her go! Her boots were made for running! (I snagged his photo while trying to keep up with Brooke and Lacy…Brooke was hoofing it down the sidewalk…see her in the red coat.) The next day she couldn’t even bend her toes….she told me to hum Taps because she never wanted to see those boots again!

The Rockettes at Radio City Hall were spectacular! I didn’t realize it was so family-oriented and child-friendly… items on the program, like a little girl with big furry animals dancing to the Nutcracker…scenes of Santa….All I could think of…was that Eva Cate and Rutledge would have loved the program…ending with snow falling on everyone. A big check off my personal life list.

Sunday morning would consist of leisurely strolls by parks and neighborhoods, service at Henry’s and Lacy’s church (Calvary-St. George’s) a wonderful brunch, and then we would retire back to the apartment to rest up for the final event…The Holiday Light bus tour. Sunday’s agenda is coming up tomorrow, along with some overall memorable moments and observations. *And one big mis-adventure on the trip back to the airport….”Oh my my my.”

So until tomorrow Let us count our blessings God bestows on us every single day of our life here on earth.

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*Monday night I was so tired I plopped down on the sofa and promptly feel asleep….dragging myself to my bed sometime after midnight. Yesterday morning I checked on all my plants and took some photos also in the house…including one of my sweet, sweet, Gingi. She came and took me to breakfast at Toast and we exchanged a little Christmas between us…the real gift was time spent together.

• This is a leaf Henry picked up that fell from the Survivor Tree and gave me…it has already turned from golden to brown…but the significance of this leaf will remain in my heart forever. 
• Yesterday I received this adorable card from Tommy, Kaitlyn, Rudy, Atticus, and Pip.

…And another “sign” that the elephants coming to the stable is the right Christmas story for this year. This was a note that my niece Catherine sent me and I about fell over when I saw the design….”The elephants are coming…the elephants are coming…this Christmas!”

*Today the double-digits turn to single digits….9 days before Christmas….it is either a Ho Ho Ho moment or a Oh NO! NO! NO!

All my lights are finally up…Come on Christmas….the Boo is ready!

Dear Reader:

Little did Brooke and I know Friday when we flew out of Charleston to New York City that by bedtime that night we would have seen Rockefeller Center, the beautiful  Christmas”Rock” tree, bumped into Elmo for a hug, seen a rather strange Statue of Liberty wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, seen singing/dancing stars hanging from a tall, tall ceiling in the Time-Warner building, had some libations at the Landmarc lounge, became tree huggers around some of the beautiful icicle-looking trees in Columbus Circle and eaten at an once-in-a-lifetime fabulous restaurant called Quality Italian. Whew! I just get tired thinking about it….thank goodness excitement keeps the old adrenalin glands pumping…and the heart too!

But before I show some of the pictures from this first evening…let me show you around our apartment that we rented for the weekend. It had three doors a person had to get through in order to get to us. Brooke and I laughed and said that we could have left one door open and been perfectly safe….nobody wanted to get to us that badly for all the trouble it involved. Here are our three doors leading to the upstairs apartment we called home for the weekend. We could get in all three doors with our three keys but never got that buzzer system down!

The apartment was quite spacious for NYC…the pull-out sofa was huge and so comfortable…however, we spent little time in the apartment except to dress for the next occasion and sleep…then we were off…

On to Columbus Circle with its beautiful “icicle” trees, the singing/dancing stars, the Lanmarc, Rockefeller Center, and the Quality Italian for dinner. (With a hug from Elmo to spur us on!)

(Henry, Brooke’s son, and his girlfriend, Lacy, were our tour guides for the afternoon and evening…and they were unbelievable in getting us through some heavy traffic.)

By now we had worked up a very good appetite and we were off to a very very good restaurant named Quality Italian….and believe me… it was of the utmost quality! Delicious!

By the time we got home it was close to midnight…Brooke and I just shook our heads….had we really done all that in part of one afternoon and evening….after flying to Newark, taking the air train to the New Jersey Transit (train) to Penn Station to our apartment. Let’s just say sleep came very quickly.

A hint at our first place on the Saturday agenda….I had a meeting with an old friend whose health I was concerned about over the past two years….but, to my surprise, my “friend” had grown even more in stature and dignity. Want to take a guess?

So until tomorrow may the excitement of new sights and familiar sights lure us to discover new places and revisit the special ones.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

A week ago, last Monday, I braved the early morning rain to go to Walgreen and get my flu shot. I had tried to get it earlier but you might remember I came down with a head cold and sinus problems…so it had to be delayed until I finished my round of medicine.

I did want to make sure I got it before leaving for NYC so I braved the foul weather and headed to Walgreen. I signed up for my shot and turned in the paperwork…they said it would be a few minutes…they were all buried in inventory ….

Since I had one more objective at Walgreen I strolled over to the Photo Department. I asked the young girl if she could show me how to get rid of all my older pictures. I wanted to clean out my Iphone before leaving for NYC. She checked and said: “You have almost 4000 pictures in here!”

I told her I knew…that was why I needed help deleting them. She laughed and we tried several different options but the programs weren’t letting us do this or that….but Becky (the clerk) would not give up…there had to be a way to get rid of the albums….for twenty minutes she probed and experimented and then by a fluke she left her finger down too long and all the pictures started lining up for  deletion. She cleaned out the all the photos in less than five minutes once she discovered the “secret.”

She told me “We “Becky’s ” have to stick together.” I asked if I could take her picture because she was my angel for the day. So meet Becky, the sweetest angel around. Thank you Becky for making my day…a clean Iphone ready for NYC photos.

As soon as I got through thanking Becky…my name was called to get my flu shot…the nurse told me that by getting a flu shot at Walgreen a person in a third world nation would get one too….Wow! a win-win situation! I left feeling good!

So until tomorrow….Take time to acknowledge the angels who appear in your daily lives…they make life so much more enjoyable and they are all so adorable.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

The most enjoyable part of putting ornaments on the Christmas tree is remembering the person who gave you the ornament and the occasion. This desk came from a student, who returned after he graduated from high school, to let me know how much he enjoyed the class and to let me know that he could still remember his desk and where he sat as he listened to stories of the past.

He decided on this ornament because he wanted me to remember him as the boy who sat in a desk, while traveling to different countries along different time-lines of history…a student who was planning on majoring in history in college.

The desk hangs from a prominent place on the Christmas tree each year.

Earlier this week…my friend, Barbara Barfield, added the following message to her Facebook page. I loved it…it made me stop, pause, and smile. Let me share it with you, in case you missed it

.

Since this is Sunday, December 13….I will have already gone to see the Rockettes at Radio City Hall Saturday night (and seen how big the place really is, Sis) and  I will be getting excited about our bus tour of the Christmas lights in NYC this evening. I have a feeling my eyes are going to be wider and rounder when I get home tomorrow!

So until tomorrow….with miracles all around us…we need not look for explanation but meaning.(Quinn Caldwell) “Don’t look for data; look for symbol. Don’t look for facts; look for truth.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Ann Graves sent me this picture of one of her hanging baskets containing a geranium making a winter come-back since it feels like spring….must be very confusing for the plants….they were already tucked in, sleeping peacefully when mother nature woke them back up…have to blame it on the winds I reckon.

Dear Reader:

Several days ago…Kate Wolfe-Jenson in her blog Journey Dancing spoke of making our personal altars from our heart to God. Especially during the Christmas season it seems like a wonderful gesture to do.

She suggests: “Make your alters of the heartMake an altar ofand on it gently offer everything – all that you feel… All that you fear… All that you hope… All that you are.”

Jenson then made a wonderful analogy between our personal altars and the pine cone. I loved the idea behind the concept so I made me a small one to remind myself of my love to God.

After a pine cone falls from the tree, it can still open and close. When it’s warm and dry – good for seeds to scatter and sprout – scales open. When it’s cold and wet, scales close. Pine

I am sure that today I have already encountered many “growth” experiences in the “Big Apple.” I do trust that my soul has wisdom in it to “open toward growth and close in protection”like the pine cone.”

Jenson closes her message by telling us to take the leaps of life in stride…new passages aren’t always easy but they are well worth the trip. The important thing is to make space for ourselves in this life we have been given. This may be difficult, but that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be easy. You are stronger than easy.

So until tomorrow…May we all be “stronger than easy” for the new experiences we encounter along our path.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Here I am in New York City where (this evening) the Heisman Trophy Winner will be announced…I wonder who I will pull for????HUMMMMM!

Jackson has her a young admirer…very young…he’s four. He’s Libby’s youngest grandchild and Rhett loves Jackson…he has started calling her “Cheekie” and wants her to read him bedtime stories now…so sweet.

Dear Reader:

It is B&B day! Brooke and Boo are flying out today a little before 11:a.m. and arriving a little before 1:00. I am so glad it is today and not yesterday. I about killed myself cleaning and for what I don’t know…except we are “our mother’s daughters.”

… I could hear mother’s voice from long ago echoing in my mind….“Now we aren’t going any where on vacation this year until each of you clean your rooms, change your sheets, put everything where it belongs and sweep your room. You will thank me when we get back and you have a clean room to return to…”

I don’t remember ever being thankful for a clean room…clean rooms don’t mean much to a child….especially children who are ready to get to the beach for a week of fun!

Mother was also into the mindset of “What if?” What if something happened and we didn’t return….other members of the family would have to go through the house and clean up….mother was determined that everyone would comment (after her imaginary demise) on how clean her house was.

Ben, David, and I just shook our heads in frustration…the beach was calling and mother was beaming… dreaming of the compliments (even though she would never hear it if she was dead) she would be receiving.

C R A Z Y stuff…Yet yesterday I found myself cleaning out the refrigerator (a job I remember doing before every trip while growing up) ….getting rid of all the items that were past their expiration date. And what else did I do  yesterday… change the sheets on my bed, sweep each room, throw out the trash, wash the dishes, scrub the kitchen and bathroom down…  water the plants and Christmas tree. Whew!

I hope this time I will be happy to return to a clean house…at this point in my life…I think I actually will. But boy is it nice to be on an airplane flying to one of the most exciting cities in the world…at Christmas!

I remember when we did finally get to the beach when we were quite small….mother would make us wait until the afternoon tide pools formed as the ocean receded. Until we got into grade school…we were stuck playing in the tide pools. Mother was too scared we might get too far out in the ocean and (with one hand) she wouldn’t be able to help us.

Just a few years ago…I remember taking Tigger (when he was the only baby before Eva Cate arrived) to the beach and letting him play in the tide pools also….(Tigger has never been real keen on swimming or getting wet, in general, as you can see from the pictures.)

Eva Cate was jumping into the neighborhood pool, without any fear, when she was just starting to walk….but Mandy, like mother, waited for the tide pools to emerge each afternoon, also, before taking her to the beach….and even then she had her “swimmies” on. The day I saw her leave the tide pool, holding Mandy’s hand and head towards the ocean, I knew that a whole new world was about to  open up to her.

Today I feel like Eva Cate…heading into the big ocean and leaving the “baby’ tide pool behind….New York City here we come!

So until tomorrow….let the misadventures begin….stories for the ages.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Jo…I came this across this photo when I was going back in time looking for some beach shots of Eva Cate when she was little….how quickly time flies….little Colby is almost grown up now. But some things never change…you two always come bearing gifts…my “Two Wise Women!”

*Happy Birthday Poppy! We miss you and love you! (This picture was taken on Poppy’s birthday…I believe it was his last birthday at home before he went to the  Veterans Victory House.) It’s hard to believe, still, that he is gone…but yet still alive in our hearts.

*I remembered late yesterday afternoon that I forgot to stop by the ATM to pull some cash for NYC….during the trip over Honey called and I stopped by her house where we had a glass of wine to celebrate my Bon Voyage! Honey’s house looked so pretty and she showed me some her Angel tree, ice skating rink that Winnie (Mike’s mom) gave her and a beautiful old manger….I told Honey that I felt like Christmas had come.

When I got home I thought the mystery “elf” had struck again…there was a bag with wine and nutrition bars in it…but thankfully…there was also a message and name: Anne.…but she is not the pink camellia elf…so that mystery continues.

*Brooke and I signed up for the Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer membership….we figured we would rather have him drive our “sleigh” today….let’s go Rudolph! Off and away!

Dear Reader:

You faithful friends and supporters, who have followed the blog for more than a year, know by now… that you don’t get my Christmas Eve Church Service story until Christmas Day…It’s my present to all of you.

The members of the Summerville Chapter of the MS Society are the first ones to hear it. I tease them each year and let them know that they are my guinea pigs…because I am usually still learning the story at the beginning of December.

I will give you a few clues about the central theme of this year’s Christmas Eve story: 1) It deals with elephants…real ones and paper mache ones at a stable  2) The main narrator is a ninety-four year old woman, named Elvira Whipple, who recalls the most perfect Christmas Eve of her life… and starts the story 3) The central theme deals with tolerance for all God’s children and all His creatures…regardless of color, race, religion, or size.

I have decided that I am a storyteller “tweaker.” I read lots of stories but when I re-tell them I “tweak” (the correct term, of course, is a revisionist) them by adding or changing certain ‘tidbits’ to add more HUMPFH to the story. This particular story needed only a couple of small “humphs” as it was pretty darn good…just the way it was. I am excited about telling it Christmas Eve.

My reaffirmation that this was the right story for the right time came with a God’s Wink. Yesterday I noticed where a new Guide Post story was available for me to read….When I saw the title…I simply smiled and shook my head.

The story is so amazing…it sent chills down my back. Here is a quick summary for you.

The Elephants of Thula Thula

Lawrence Anthony was a beloved wildlife conservationist from South Africa, known throughout the world as “The Elephant Whisperer”—a nickname he earned after adopting and rehabilitating a herd of wild elephants (who were destined to be killed) on his game reserve, Thula Thula. In 2012, Lawrence suffered a fatal heart attack. Two days later, his wife, Françoise Malby Anthony, witnessed something incredible…

The elephants of Thula Thula appeared outside her home in a solemn procession to pay tribute to Lawrence, a moving story Françoise told in the December/January 2016 issue of Mysterious Ways magazine. Anthony  died on March 2, 2012, while on a business trip to Johannesburg. Two days later the family and community held a memorial service for him and when they returned home later in the afternoon … they were met with a big surprise. A procession of elephants!

They circled the home as if waiting for their beloved man, their “savior,” who had saved them from death so many years before. Finally hours later…they left.

…Until March 4, 2013, a year later to the day, when the herd appeared in the late afternoon performing the same rituals in their procession. Rituals of gratitude towards a man they loved, trusted, and respected.

It  didn’t stop there…they have returned on March 4 in 2014 and this past year on the same date-2015.

It is said that elephants don’t forget and obviously they don’t forget someone who loved them unconditionally…as a creature of God on earth.

I think we can learn a lot from this beautiful giants of the earth…if they can pay homage to a man who saved their lives and loved them unconditionally… once a year on the same day…returning to his home…why can’t we do the same with our Savior-Jesus Christ?

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I can’t think of a more beautiful “sign” that my Christmas Eve story should involve a mystery…about two elephants at the stable.

… Speaking of mysteries I left around 6:00 last evening to run to Rite-Aid and when I returned some beautiful pink camellias were sitting on the porch floor in some foil….Who’s my Christmas elf? I want to know! Help me solve the mystery.

A special shout-out to Knight Gaillard who sent me some mouth-watering ham and cheese rolls, crab rolls, and scrumptious sweet goodies. You are so kind for thinking of me…I gulped them all down last night…I mean all! Thank you Knight for such a kind gesture!

They say art imitates life and vice-versa….from these two photos I think they are right.

* Anne said that the painting by Rembrandt-The Adoration of the Shepherds– reminded her of a list of words about light she got from Mepkin Abby one year.

Your Rembrandt painting today reminded me to dig out Incandescence, a book I bought at the crèche festival a long time ago.  It’s a book of 365 readings by women “mystics” and leads off with the attached one by Lucille Clifton.  I’m sure I’ve shared it w you before but it was lovely to read again, word by word, with the painting right there too.  Lovely!!!

Dear Reader:

When I woke up yesterday I felt about as “foggy” as the dense fog that had settled into the early morning mist. I had fallen sound asleep on the sofa and woken up around 12:30 Monday night (er…Tuesday morning) ….gotten up, turned off the lights, and gone to bed…only to lay there staring at the ceiling.

So I answered some emails and messed around on the computer until about 1:30 and finally fell asleep sometime there after. So yesterday morning I was trying to figure out what time it was ….with no sun and the dense fog blocking the natural guides to time-telling.

It was about 7:30 and I was heading over to Mt. P to keep Eva Cate for the day…her pre-school was closed for parent conferences…the fog stayed thick until I crossed the last bridge on I-526 and suddenly the sun’s rays broke through the low lying clouds. Immediately everything seemed brighter and more cheerful.

In Our Daily Bread- Finding Peace at Christmas (Christmas devotionals) the famous artist (Dutch artist Rembrandt) is deemed the “master of light and darkness” in his paintings…especially in  one of his most famous: The Adoration of the Shepherds. 

In the painting the darkened stable in Bethlehem portrays two shepherds kneeling beside the manger while other people stand farther away. One man holds a lantern, but the brightest light shines from the Christ-Child, illuminating those gathered closest to him.

Seven centuries before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah used an image of light and shadows to foretell the coming of the Savior. “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine…For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.” (Isaiah 9: 2-6).

Each person may see a different story in the painting but perhaps each of us is represented somewhere in the stable. Are we kneeling in worship, standing back in hesitation and doubt, or hiding from the light, that like a thick fog penetrates the darkness?

Christmas invites us to step out of the shadows of doubt, fogginess, and darkness to allow the light of Christ to shine into our hearts.

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So until tomorrow…Let us understand that faith in Christ is not a leap into the deep fog of darkness…it’s a step into the light.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

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Eva Cate and I had a “girl” day yesterday….we shopped, picked up some trinkets, had fun making white moustaches with our high chocolate/whipped cream drinks at Barnes and Noble. We finished off our wonderful day going to see Disney’s “The Good Dinosaur” (I bawled at the end like “Old Yeller”) and finally painted finger nails…Giving each loved one a day to play before Christmas is quite a gift that keeps on giving.

Dear Reader:

I have been so caught up with “going with the flow” that it suddenly dawned on me over the weekend that this Friday (December 11) is “Take-Off” Day! New York City…here we come!

“We” meaning Brooke and I. Sometime back in the fall around my birthday in late September…I was at the beach with Brooke, sitting on the front porch, when she hesitantly asked….“Boo…would you be interested in going with me to New York City over Christmas so I can see Henry?” (Brooke’s son who won’t be able to get home for Christmas!)

I have been to New York City a couple of times but never at Christmas…immediately my mind and imagination conjured up thoughts of horse carriage rides through Central Park in the snow, the Rockettes all dressed up in Christmas outfits, stunningly decorated shop windows, and watching the ice skaters on Rockefeller Center. “Yes”….another adventure awaits.

Since that response, Brooke has been hard at work finding the least expensive way (let’s face it…cheapest) way to spend a long weekend in New York City at Christmas. She has done an amazing job! We caught the airline tickets at just the right time….Brooke found us an apartment, near Henry’s, for the least amount of payment per day.

Henry helped get us the least expensive tickets to see the Rockettes at Radio City Hall and the bus light tour of NYC at Christmas.

Brooke outlined an itinerary for us that allows free time to just walk around and look at all the displays, grab lunch at Rockefeller Center while watching the ice skaters and just “hang” at some local Christmas “fairs” going on.

It will be my very special “Merry Christmas” gift to me this year….no doubt filled with adventures, misadventures (the best part) new sights and sounds to fill my memory treasure box for years. “Remember Brooke when we went to New York City that Christmas?”

Life is too short, not to jump at opportunities to get out of our comfort zones and jump into new frontiers of Christmas Cheer!

Of course I will return with pictures…lots and lots of pictures from the “Big Apple.” Watch out NYC….here we come…and we are ready to take a big bite out of you!

So until tomorrow….Let us never regret the opportunities we took…the real regrets in life are the ones we didn’t.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*One child’s Santa is full of joy…another’s tears.” (Great looking Santa…when I commented on this…little Eva Cate immediately responded in a whisper. “That’s because he’s the real one Boo Boo.” (Only little children know this for a fact!)

*Anne had me over for lunch yesterday for a farewell get-together before I leave for New York….she had the table all fixed up so pretty with yummy chili and cornbread cheese/bacon sandwiches…to die for. Thanks Anne.

(I had given her the little garden rabbit -who looked like it was on its last leg-… now the rabbit looks so happy at Anne’s home…looking over the paper white bulbs trying to decide if they might be future Easter eggs.)

Dear Reader:

You might remember that a few weeks ago I shared with you a nightmare I had one night which really shook me up. It was muddled and nonsensical but it packed a scary punch.

Quinn Caldwell ( All I Really Want-Advent Devotionals) suggested hanging a star in our bedroom to ward off bad dreams…It could be a “light-up Christmas start, a flow-in-the-dark star on the ceiling, or a starry night-light. We can call it a Christmas decoration if our friends tease us about it. But don’t forget what it really is: a promise.”

I immediately did just that…I found the star (in the title photo) in a bin of old Christmas tree decorations, pulled it out, put it up, along with little white lights. To date…I haven’t had a single bad dream since it went up. Jesus’ promise comes true each morning when morning arrives: the night will end. (and it does!)

In the December 6 Advent devotional, Caldwell observes: ” God shined light when he entered the world, but it couldn’t have happened without the holy darkness of Mary’s womb, with the darkness behind the closed eyelids of a laboring woman…

The wise men would never have been able to see the star if they’d been standing in the parking lot of a 24 hour Walmart. 

So tonight, in honor of the good darkness, the holy darkness, spend some time with the lights off. Close your eyes and pray to be protected, nourished, and formed by the God who swept over the face of the waters before there was light. Pray for the darkness to become like the womb that bore the world. Pray for re-birth in the light of God.

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Mandy called yesterday and said John was cooking up some chili for a chili cook-off (at the College of Charleston) today for charity and how about coming over (Sunday evening) and giving it a taste-test. I was more than happy to oblige. It won my vote…delicous!

When I arrived Eva Cate, Mandy, and Tigger were waiting at the door…Eva Cate had gotten a new Christmas outfit and wanted to show it to me…Mandy said that she figured the teachers would get a chuckle off her selection of a Christmas t-shirt.

(Eva Cate’s shirt reads: “Always on the Nice List.” We all tried not to laugh out loud)

Across the pond their back yard neighbor put up the annual outdoor Christmas tree…so beautiful looking out from the screened porch…the tree reflects in the water.

We then all piled in the car and rode around the neighborhood looking at the the decorated houses and all their lights. So fun!

When I got home around 8:00 last night…I made a fire…got in “Big Pinkie” my beloved plush soft robe…turned off all the lights except for the tree and fireplace. Indeed it was a “good darkness,” in fact, a “very good darkness”….I reflected on a wonderful weekend and then slept the night away with no bad dreams…just visions of Clemson Tigers dancing in my head.”

So until tomorrow….”Without the darkness we wouldn’t come to know and appreciate the light… God light. Let’s take time to enjoy the “good darkness” moments in our lives.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Jackson is in the spirit…helping Libby decorate the tree in the front yard…I hope “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” was blasting from the radio while trimming the tree.