Dear Reader:

These days…it is getting easier and easier to come across all forms and kinds of ‘blessing boxes.‘ They come in all shapes… pantry boxes, cabinets, large bins, homemade wooden structures, tiny shacks and mobile units with windows.

They all have one thing in common…they are never locked and there is a sign that basically instructs: “Take What You Need and Leave What You Can.”

Most blessing boxes contain canned goods, books, socks, mittens, crackers, toilet paper, bottle water, etc. The basics for physical nourishment and reading interests of every kind.

There is a blessing book box that I see when running errands in Summerville…and it always makes me smile. The idea behind each blessing box should be our global mantra….

Think about it…if everyone on this planet would “just take what we needed and leave what we could“…the world would be a different place, wouldn’t it? No longer the ‘haves’ and “have not’s” but only the ‘giving’ and the ‘leaving.”

As we all grow closer to this new year…2021… we pray fervently that the upcoming year will take us out of the pandemic and restore us physically, economically, emotionally, and spiritually.

We still might have to stand six feet apart to make a global circle…but we know deep inside we are holding invisible hands with our brothers and sisters in humanity.  We stand together to face the rising sun of hope for all of us living everywhere in the world.

Hope still arrives in the birth of a newborn and three years ago today…our family, amid a rare snowstorm, got our little Eloise late New Year’s Eve….just hours before midnight. And what joy she has brought us!

Walsh has always happily proclaimed that all his children were born on a special holiday….Rutledge on Father’s Day, Lachlan on St. Patrick’s Day so little Eloise was not to be out-done…she arrived on New Year’s Eve…just a couple of hours before midnight but she wisely decided to help dad out by being able to count a third deduction. Great present Eloise!

And then to add even a little more excitement…the rare but beautiful snowstorm of 2018 arrived while Eloise and Mollie were recuperating in the hospital. January 3 Walsh packed up the boys to go pick them up and found the roads impassable…they got as far as John and Mandy’s house (where I had already gotten snowed in) and that is where we all ended up camping out inside for the next couple of days.

It makes for a great story…and one that holds some of our most precious memories.

We all survived it quite comfortably…but we were also so relieved when Walsh announced that he had made it to the hospital to pick up Mollie and Eloise and everyone was home safe and sound. We all breathed a big sigh of relief.

All of these ‘going-on’s” meant nothing to Eloise who looked like a little snow angel…innocently just sleeping away.

Walsh and family arrived home safely and the next day so did I…God was good and took care of our entire family…just like we knew He would. Walsh’s house and my Summerville home.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELOISE! You definitely made a grand entrance three years ago today little girl. And you are still making grand entrances galore!!!

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Thank you for your prayers…once again the power of prayer showed itself quite strongly….Wanda’s breathing is easier…her oxygen levels are much improved and she is getting round the clock care…she is now clear-minded about where she is and what is going on….she’s already thinking towards the future and the necessary changes in her life…always a good sign. Wanda’s family thanks you so much for taking time to include their loved one in your prayers….so do I. Bless you.

John and Mandy took advantage of some good weather in Huntsville Tuesday and took the kids to a nearby state park for some rock climbing. They will be flying back in later today. Safe travels everyone!