From my house to yours, may you have a blessed New Year filled filled with God's peace and graces. Happy 2008! Love, Val

O Holy Night

A very Merry Christmas to you and yours! May God's grace protect you and keep you safe, and may He bless you with His peace and comfort.

The Darkness and the Light

Winter solstice - the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter. The "dead" of winter has begun - but what beauty this season can bring to us! It begins with the beauty of the holidays, and then the quietness and slower pace can envelop our minds and souls, and thus we can find the time to reflect on what God is asking of us during this season of our lives. As the days grow longer, we can look forward to the warmth again - but in the meantime, let us relish this time of peace where we can ask God to reveal to us His will and we can pray to accept His desires for our lives.

The last few days before Christmas are always a bit hectic, but this year, I am purposefully trying to keep them low-key. I am trying to savor this time because I realize that as my girls are now young women, I only have a few more Christmases with them at home before they branch out into their own lives and they begin to have their celebrations in their own homes. I spent some time alone with TP last night, and on the way home, we got to talking about hair styles and how much she doesn't like bangs. I told here that the only reason I wear bangs is because they hide the wrinkles on my forehead. And, in a style reminiscent of when she was much younger, TP said "But I have a beautiful mother - you don't have wrinkles, and you are so pretty". It's amazing to me that she looks beyond the oh-so-evident wrinkles and only sees me - the mom who's cuddled and loved her since she was a baby. I've also spent some time with DQ recently, who is busily preparing for her trip to Disney in Florida over Christmas break. She touched my heart, too, when she said thanked me for not giving up on her even though she's been through some difficult times. It is remarks like these that touch a mother's heart and soul, and make everything worthwhile. The pain and anger melt away, and healing takes hold and flourishes.

We are headed up north the day after Christmas, and DQ is headed down south for her trip to Disney. It will be different without DQ - I'll miss her like crazy, but I'm thrilled she's going to have this experience! TP and I will go ice-skating and do some shopping (after Christmas sales) and also go out to lunch with some friends and family members. The husband will put together his mom and dad's new computer system and teach them how to use it. We'll spend time with both sides of the family, and make memories to hold onto and share.

In the meantime, I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas! May the Lord bless you and keep you safe in His graces.

The Vigil

As we await for Christmas morn, longing for Christ's birth, let us take a moment amongst the busyness of our day to prepare our hearts and souls so that we can truly be ready for Him who treasures each and every one of us. Enjoy this beautiful piece of music by David Nevue!

All is well here. I am blessed.

Time for Changes

I'm officially on vacation until after the first of the year. The one nice thing about being self-employed is that I can take time off whenever I want to - but the downfall to that is I don't get paid for vacation time. However, I'm really looking forward to the next three weeks where I can spend time with family, putter around the house, cook good meals, get caught up on a few things which I've neglected, and reflect on the true meaning of this season.

The song I posted prior to this entry says it all - there is so much to be thankful for, and I tend to forget that very easily. God has richly blessed my life, and I haven't done enough to show my appreciation to Him. I take things for granted far too often, or I complain about things when I should be trying to look at how to improve myself or the situation. I tend to be very self-centered and selfish. I withdraw and hibernate rather than reach out to others.

So, I am going to take some time over the next three weeks to ponder what changes I need to make within myself and make a plan for the New Year wherein I focus on giving back rather than taking all the time. As the song says "It's up to us [me] to be the change". . .

Thankful

Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know we can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyound ourselves
There's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say
I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It's so long overdue.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences
There is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know we can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more
There's so much to be thankful for

All Went Well

Surgery was a success and all went well. It was a bit more "ouchy" than I was expecting (and I have a high tolerance for pain), but it went so quickly so I was able to tolerate the procedure. My eye is still a bit sore today and I do have a headache, but again, it's tolerable.

Thank you for your prayers and concern - I appreciate it. My other eye gets done next Thursday (wish they could have done both at the same time).

I am going to delete my other post entitled "A Mother's Instincts" because the situation has been resolved. Suffice it to say that God helped me find the words to say what had to be said, and for the words to be received and accepted. Again, thank you for your words and prayers.

Eye Surgery

I'm having eye surgery tomorrow at 1:30p.m., so if you get the chance, please say a quick prayer that it is successful. It is for my narrow-angle glaucoma - which is the rarer form of glaucoma which usually strikes younger people and is "cured" by this surgery. In other words, I'm fortunate to have this kind of glaucoma because this surgery should prevent me from going blind!!! So, I am looking at this as a minor inconvenience (even though I'm a bit nervous) in the major schem of things - hey, what's a 40 minute office call in exchange for my vision? Next week, I will have the other eye done. Wish they could do both at the same time. I've been assured that there is no pain, just some mild discomfort.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Feel So Good

My friend, Kevin, at www.counselingkevin , just pointed out that Chuck Mangione recently celebrate his 67th birthday. Wow.

For those of you not familiar with Chuck's music, it was very popular in the 70's - great music to dance to, listen to, and other various things which I'll only leave to your imagination. Anyway, this is one of my most favorite songs by Chuck (the other would have to be Bellavia). My hubby and I saw him when we were students at Central Michigan University in 1977 - the concert was in the gym and the acoustics weren't the best, but despite that, it was one of the best concerts EVER that I have attended. Wish I could find a slower version of this song, but this one will suffice. Thanks, Kevin, for the trip down memory lane today!