My desire to regularly post on my blog was derailed this month. Things were a little crazy and stressful sometimes! In the end, everything went well and the kids and I are delighted with how sweet our Christmas Day has been. The day couldn't have started out more beautifully--a quick look outside revealed gently falling snow. The effect was stunning.
The snow was all the more delightful since we haven't had any for a few weeks now. I thought that we were going to be giving up a white Christmas by being here and not in Utah. I'm thrilled that I didn't have to.
I am so, so happy! I received more than I deserve. I think the greatest delight has been seeing the joy of my children. I also had the special experience of helping out a woman I visit teach. She called me late on Sunday night and confided in me that her husband had gone in for same-day surgery on Friday, but was still in the hospital. He had developed pneumonia and she wasn't sure when he would be able to come home. In the meantime, she didn't have anything ready for Christmas. I ended up watching her special needs children the next day and was able to send groceries and a few gifts to her home thanks to the efforts and generosity of my visiting teaching partner. She called me late on Christmas Eve to thank me. She had gotten her husband home around 7:00 PM that day and she said that she had received an anonymous box of gifts from someone that night. So touching to see compassion working in someone's life and be able to be a part of it to a small degree. That is the true Spirit of Christmas and it brought me true joy!
I hope each of you had a very merry Christmas full of happiness and peace as well!
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| Christmas Morning |
Oh, how I've cried! I don't recall ever being more affected by a news story. Perhaps it's because I live in Connecticut just an hour away from the horror. Maybe it's because I have children that I cherish and in particular have a kindergartener who loves her classroom and teacher so much that she got mad at me for checking her out early one day. Maybe it's just because I am human. Whatever it is, I have shed real, genuine tears. I have hugged my children and wondered why and how something so awful could have happened.
I received phone calls, texts and messages on Facebook from concerned friends and loved ones. The small consolation of this event is that I feel loved and cared about and I got to connect with people yesterday with whom I wouldn't have otherwise.
Though I am grief-stricken and have sorrowed about it all over again today, I cleave to the testimony I have that God is real and that He cares. I know that, though it may take a long time, He can and does heal crushed souls. I will be praying, mightily, that the families who lost their greatest blessing will receive strength through the atonement of Christ to get through the loss and that we as a country will find the strength and wisdom needed to carry on. As we turn to Christ, our King, we can triumph. Merry Christmas to us all!
