Dear Reader:

You might remember that a few weeks ago I shared with you a nightmare I had one night which really shook me up. It was muddled and nonsensical but it packed a scary punch.

Quinn Caldwell ( All I Really Want-Advent Devotionals) suggested hanging a star in our bedroom to ward off bad dreams…It could be a “light-up Christmas start, a flow-in-the-dark star on the ceiling, or a starry night-light. We can call it a Christmas decoration if our friends tease us about it. But don’t forget what it really is: a promise.”

I immediately did just that…I found the star (in the title photo) in a bin of old Christmas tree decorations, pulled it out, put it up, along with little white lights. To date…I haven’t had a single bad dream since it went up. Jesus’ promise comes true each morning when morning arrives: the night will end. (and it does!)

In the December 6 Advent devotional, Caldwell observes: ” God shined light when he entered the world, but it couldn’t have happened without the holy darkness of Mary’s womb, with the darkness behind the closed eyelids of a laboring woman…

The wise men would never have been able to see the star if they’d been standing in the parking lot of a 24 hour Walmart. 

So tonight, in honor of the good darkness, the holy darkness, spend some time with the lights off. Close your eyes and pray to be protected, nourished, and formed by the God who swept over the face of the waters before there was light. Pray for the darkness to become like the womb that bore the world. Pray for re-birth in the light of God.

………………….

Mandy called yesterday and said John was cooking up some chili for a chili cook-off (at the College of Charleston) today for charity and how about coming over (Sunday evening) and giving it a taste-test. I was more than happy to oblige. It won my vote…delicous!

When I arrived Eva Cate, Mandy, and Tigger were waiting at the door…Eva Cate had gotten a new Christmas outfit and wanted to show it to me…Mandy said that she figured the teachers would get a chuckle off her selection of a Christmas t-shirt.

(Eva Cate’s shirt reads: “Always on the Nice List.” We all tried not to laugh out loud)

Across the pond their back yard neighbor put up the annual outdoor Christmas tree…so beautiful looking out from the screened porch…the tree reflects in the water.

We then all piled in the car and rode around the neighborhood looking at the the decorated houses and all their lights. So fun!

When I got home around 8:00 last night…I made a fire…got in “Big Pinkie” my beloved plush soft robe…turned off all the lights except for the tree and fireplace. Indeed it was a “good darkness,” in fact, a “very good darkness”….I reflected on a wonderful weekend and then slept the night away with no bad dreams…just visions of Clemson Tigers dancing in my head.”

So until tomorrow….”Without the darkness we wouldn’t come to know and appreciate the light… God light. Let’s take time to enjoy the “good darkness” moments in our lives.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Jackson is in the spirit…helping Libby decorate the tree in the front yard…I hope “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” was blasting from the radio while trimming the tree.