“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14
Actually two days late, but you get the drift. While growing up Christmas was a big celebration, though not a religious one. We celebrated it as just a gift giving holiday which had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus. On Christmas day my parents, sister, and I would gather with our grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins at my eldest aunt’s house. There would be forty or fifty people eating lunch and enjoying each other’s company. This Christmas my Mom, sister, and I simply gathered around a pot of spaghetti to celebrate the holiday. My 48th Christmas was certainly very low key, as I wish the rest of my life could be.
Now we are less than a week away from yet another new year. How impossible it seems that we have now gone ten years since we all celebrated and worried about Y2K. This first decade of the 21st century has certainly been one of turmoil for me. The loss of both Lee and my Father, the changes in my job status, the slow separation from so many friends, and the general aging process have all called me to task. How I pray for peace in the new year…the new decade!
This year I went to Christmas Eve mass celebrating the birth of Jesus in ways I never did as a child. Whether it is something God wishes us to do or not, I cannot say. I do know that it helped to lighten the burdens I carry in my heart for at least a couple of hours, and for that I do give glory to God!
It has been four months since I found time to write a blog. I certainly had thoughts I wished to write down during this time, but seemed never to find the time. Truthfully it seems more like four weeks as my life continues to rush by. Some days now I feel so old that all I wish to do is to lie in bed and remember better days. Still this year I have allowed myself to open up my heart some. I have both made and loss friends. They have filled my heart with both joy and sorrow…only time will tell if I made the right choices. A day late, and a dollar short seems to be the perfect line to describe me. Rather than being at peace with my decisions, I seem to always be regretting my choices. Perhaps in the coming year, I can learn to put away regrets.
Now especially during this time when we all reflect on what the birth of our Savior means to us it is the perfect time to look within ourselves. To see what changes we can make in our own lives, instead of always basing our happiness on how others perceive us. As 2009 draws to a close, I continue to give glory to God and pray for peace not just for myself, but for all of you who daily touch my heart. Each of you know who you are and know hopefully even when I seem withdrawn and in dark despair my love for you never wavers…
