Dear Readers:

I love whimsical metaphors with a kick and this saying does just that. We are so used to seeing gloomy-looking signs saying “The End is Coming” that seeing a sign that says  “The Beginning is Near” turns our perspective, on life, upside down and all around.

Every day we wake up we get a chance to have a new beginning…in relationships and opportunities for amazing adventures that exist past our comfortable perimeters of daily life. We just need to make sure that we bring those we love in on our new adventures so they can be shared with all.

Grandmother liked all the pastors that preached at the local church where she attended…except one. She never really said anything bad about him but it was like she could see through him and was slightly disappointed in what she saw.

One afternoon he came for a visit after Grand-daddy died….She politely nodded while he gave his condolences and then she offered him iced tea and cookies. (which he took) She, also, prayed with him at the end of the visit… still… she remained very reserved…not adding many comments to the conversation.

After he left she told Mrs. Armstrong (a woman the family hired to live with grandmother for a few years) that the problem with that pastor was that he was running around trying to be everything to everybody, all the time. At this rate he was going to end up being “good for nuttin.” His poor family always came last and they saw him the least.

“I would much rather have known he was at home with his wife and children doing something fun with them on this Spring Sunday afternoon than spending it with me”  was Grandmother’s final comment on the subject.

We have “all the missed the point,’ haven’t we, on occasion, in our zeal to “do good” …for the outside world while leaving our inner circle crying out for our attention too. “Life is a balancing act.”

This Christmas message fell out of a book I was thumbing through the other day. I read it and then re-read it…I think the message is an important reminder on how to live our lives every day…not just during the Christmas holidays.

Missing the Point

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another home decorator. 

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at meal time, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

“If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.”

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child, love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse, love is kind even when harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give back in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust.

But giving the gift of love will endure forever.

…………………………

So until tomorrow….Love begins at home.  

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Fun yesterday at Primerose-lots of good hugs!!!!