Dear Reader:

Every time I happen upon a sky filled with just one visible star, I think of my grandmother. She was an ardent star gazer …in every season. I remember lying beside her in the summer, on a bundle of leaves in the fall, wrapped in heavy blankets around our coats in winter… and sweaters in early spring.

We most loved finding an ” empty” sky with the first star emerging… Grandmother called it ” A Solo Night of Faith” … the best night of all!

Have you ever felt, sometimes, that you, and only you, are the only person who still believes in you? Guess what? It is enough!

Grandmother was always teaching me lessons about life that have come back through the years, unveiling her faith in me many times since her passing a long time ago. Star gazing together provided many of her words of wisdom that she imparted in me.

I remember one night there was only one visible star brightly shining in the darkening sky. Grandmother was ecstatic and clapped her chapped rough hands … the hands of a cotton farmer’s wife.

She then pulled me over and pointed to the sky. ” Becky, life is beautiful but it is also hard sometimes. Whenever you feel alone or scared remember this ” Solo Night of Faith.”

” Look closely at the lone star… it just takes one star to pierce a universe of darkness… and You Are Enough! You, can light up the life you have been given for others…and every now and then God , the Creator of our Universe, reminds us we are not alone… behind our light are endless others twinkling stars, too far away to be seen , but like God… providing our own special light. ”

So until tomorrow… Thank you Father for those loving individuals who came before us to guide us along our future personal paths with words of wisdom and preparation for us to never be alone.

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday I dropped off Ben’s Pepsis and snacks on the way home from Mandy’s and he wanted me to see his room where he had put the picture of Rhea ( I gave him and all the other parents/ grandparents) on his wall cross of grace … he said it was his best present-had spent the last two days showing everyone he bumped into his same day birthday granddaughter’s photo-Too sweet!