Long Hollow

All I wanted for Christmas...

 

The last few days have been a wonderful blur of unfamiliar activity for me... hours away from my computer and phone, spent mostly in my kitchen, measuring flour and sugar, warming up ovens, with timers beeping, beeping, beeping, and dishes piling up in the sink.

I spent one day making cookies and fudge, another day getting casseroles and a huge turkey ready for the oven, and then finally yesterday, cooking and serving it all in celebration of Christ's birthday. 

I'm exhausted, but in a good way. All I wanted for Christmas was to spend time with all three of my kids at once, and I got my wish, along with the bonus of my sweet daughter-in-law, her dad and stepmom, and TG's BF. Having Tom here was even a bonus because he thought he was going to have to work. 

We sat at the table eating and talking for hours. Then the kids and I paid my mom a visit. A few gifts were exchanged, but they weren't the focus. What will live on in my heart and memory are the smiles, the laughs, and the stories, with love being the connecting thread running through it all. The best kind of Christmas gift. 

 

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.
~Ada V. Hendricks

 

Peace Begins with a Smile

 

 

 

I think it's time, don't you?

Somewhere I read that everything we do, every simple action or word, sends an energy into the world, either positive or negative, ultimately contributing to either war or peace.

We can point fingers and lay blame, but to some degree each one of us carries that responsibility and power.

I believe Thomas Merton wrote it in "The Seven Storey Mountain ", although I haven't been able to find it again. But no matter who wrote it, it stuck with me...the image of our complaints, our smiles, our angry outbursts, our words of thanks or apology drifting away from us and taking sides in a cosmic dance of good and evil. 

When my kids were little, I advised them to use a simple test for their words and actions - is it "nice" or "necessary"? If neither, don't say it or do it.

 

In light of the recent violent events in Paris and California and, well, almost everywhere in the world ... especially in the increasing intensity and frequency of those events ... I'm going to take my own advice and refocus my efforts to contribute to the 'good' side more than the bad, especially when I'm driving in traffic, which I think is my biggest challenge!

I hope you join me!

 

"Let us not use bombs and guns to overcome the world. Let us use love and compassion. Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you don't really want to smile at at all. Do it for peace. Let us radiate the peace of God and so light His light and extinguish in the world and in the hearts of all men all hatred and love for power. Smile at one another. It is not always easy. Sometimes I find it hard to smile at my Sister, but then I pray.

God loves the world through you and me. Are we that love and that compassion?"

~Mother Theresa, "In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories, and Prayers "

 

First Came Love...

First came love...

 

 

Then came marriage...

 

 Then came Tommy in a baby carriage!

(After a few years of pre-children fun, of course. And a new perm.)

 

 

Okay, you can't really see Tommy in that one, but trust me, he's in there.

Here's a better one.

 

 

Oh my gosh, isn't he precious?

 

He's come a long way... from slides on his first birthday...

 

 

...to bungee-jumping in New Zealand on his 30th.

This is afterward. I appreciate them letting everyone know they survived!

(He's the one in front on the right.)

 

 

Happy 30th anniversary of Tom and me becoming parents, and happy 30th birthday to my oldest baby!