Merry Christmas 2012

2012 

Christmas morning in Colorado.  

We woke up to a white Christmas, which is always beautiful to see the sun glistening on the mountains.  It's been a wild few weeks.  We had the Sandy Hook school shootings,  we had the Mayan end of the world predictions that did not happen,  we had shootings at a mall, shootings down the street and yesterday firemen were shot and killed responding to a fire.  There does not seem to be peace on earth, nor much good will to men.   My heart is sad.  It is sad for the people who have Christmas morning today with funeral plans, or empty places at the dinner table.   I can hardly stand to turn on the TV to see the news.  Heartache seems to be everywhere. 

But I am going to continue to look for the good.  I am going to dig deep to find positive in our world because it truly is everywhere.  If you are on twitter- check out the hashtag #RandomActsOfKindness and see what nice things people are doing for each other.  They are not huge things.  Little things.  Friday,  the cashier at Walgreens who asked me if I had used a coupon for my pictures I was picking up.  I said "no," so she proceeded to take 30% off my bill with an in-house coupon.  Did she need to do that?  Nope.  Was she busy, frazzled and working long hours at the end of the Christmas shopping rush? Yup.  But she took the extra few minutes to save me some money, and I appreciate that.  People are paying for each other's groceries, drinks at Starbucks and other fast food restaurants.  People are helping folks rebuild their houses from Hurricane Sandy.  My SCLA kids are making paper snowflakes for us to mail to the students at Sandy Hook.  There is good everywhere.  It just isn't as graphic to report on. 

Last night I was able to skype with my grandkids and read them "the night before Christmas."  How awesome is that?  Sharing a wonderful Christmas story with my three darling grandkids in Iowa is an amazing thing.  Thank you technology. 

 Good is all  around.  Good will continue to be all around us even when bad is ranging.  It is just up to us to look a little harder, stop and listen a little more closely and seek to find him who helps us find peace.  Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Now I know not everyone believes in Christ.  I respect that.  For me, personally, he is the source of peace and joy in a troubled world.  No religious rants, no hellfire and brimstone sermons here, just me and my quiet knowledge that he lives.  My knowledge that babe born in Bethlehem and whose birth we celebrate today is real. He was born, he lived.  he died.  He rose again on the third day.  And he is painfully aware of our sadness, our trials and our trouble.  He is there ready to walk beside us, and if necessary, carry us for a part of the journey.  He waits at the door for us to invite him into our lives.  He is welcome in mine. 

His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful by Simon Dewey

Merry Christmas world.  Find joy. Find happiness amid the rubble and the trouble.   Let's take care of each other.  Let us look for ways to bring kindness back into our world that is so filled with hate, anger and sadness.  We can do it.  We can do it one random woman at a time.