This may be it...do not know as I am still discovering things and preparing for 2014 and a new start in the studio.
Winner announced tomorrow.
Saturday... not sure where the days have gone as we have prepared our hearts as we are close to the fourth week of advent starting tomorrow. This was a week to explore joy... and reasons to have joy. So easy to walk into a store and see something you are dying to own and just flip out that credit card and buy it. Sheer joy? Is it really? The feeling lasts what about five minutes before the doubt creeps in, "Should I have spent that money?" and then the rationalizations start, "I can wear it for the Christmas party, and again for dinner out with
the family Christmas day..."
How about flipping out that credit card and buying a coat to warm that older woman standing out on the street, or buying a new bike to donate to a local charity gathering toys for children that will not have Christmas. Or this time of year when you eat out...double the tip for your wait staff.
My favorite memory doing just this was going out to breakfast with our 15 year old grandson before Christmas. We stood in a long line at a waffle house. About 45 min later we were seated at the bar and we slid Jon in between us and ordered. The food was hot and fresh and the woman that waited on us was the same one trying to handle the long line waiting outside the door. They were short of staff. I overheard her talking to her family, a child, on the phone saying she would be home after lunch. She must have had the five a. m. shift, but her smile stayed bright as she visited with everyone making sure the morning was special for all of us and our food hot. As we sat there, I knew what I wanted to do. We had some cash with us to finish Christmas shopping. When we left, I paid with my credit card but handed her a folded up envelope with a $100 bill tucked inside and thanked her. She smiled and wished me Merry Christmas and tucked the sealed envelop deep in her apron pocket. Out in the car Jon was asking questions. It was such a wonderful time to teach him that giving what you have to others, and learning to do without so others could have something they needed, was pretty special. Terry and I decided then not to buy gifts for each other that year and we would continue to give to others as their 'light' brightened our lives.
"Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield." Psalm 33:20
