The Joy of the Season...

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow, I will receive a gift that I dared to hope for, and pray for.
I will be with my family again. 

I knew when I asked God to grant my wish, it might not happen.
I knew that it would very probably NOT happen - but I asked anyway.
I believed that if it was to happen, God could literally move Heaven and Earth to make it happen.
I prayed. My best friend prayed. My Mom prayed. Many friends prayed.

And God answered my prayer with a YES.

Tomorrow morning, I will board a plane and fly north to Seattle.

By this time tomorrow afternoon,
I will be sitting on the floor of my daughter's living room,

surrounded by my daughters and my sons (because my son-in-laws are my sons, too)

and my four precious grandchildren.

For the first time EVER, we will all be gathered together.

And they asked me to come.
It is a gift of immeasurable worth.

After the pain and the hurt and the loss and the chasm of distance over the past two years,

gathering together as a family is a gift of 'exceeding great joy'.

There will be sadness along with the joy, of course...

because their dad should be there. 

This family reunion will not be complete without him among us.
He will be present in our memories, in the stories, in the remembered traditions.

 That will never, should never, change.

 It will be, in so many ways, a Christmas to remember. 

Generations ago, on Christmas Eve, 

the Christ Child was born, and the Wise Kings traveled 'afar' to find Him,

to shower Him with gifts of honor and respect and acceptance.

His arrival that night in Bethlehem was not what was expected. 

Kings did not begin life in stables, in mangers of hay.
Especially the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Son of God.
But then, from the beginning of time, God has not often done what was 'expected'....

and I for one am profoundly grateful that God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, 

often delivers joy to us when we least expect it.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas,

filled with the Joy and Peace of the Reason for the Season

and surrounded by family & friends