...another year

Only 25 days left in this year...
...really!?
                   REALLY!!
I know I've said this before, and it's true, this is certainly not how - in my younger years - I ever envisioned my days being in this stage of life.
That is not to say that how my days are is bad - just quite different than I thought in my past that they'd be.
Of course if I think far enough back... there was a time when I wasn't so sure I'd ever marry, or have children...and grandchildren...a whole other thing that then wasn't even in the running.
Fast forward a ways and with my sweet husband and 6 beautiful children the 'grandchildren' ideas were a big part of those thoughts of the future. Not that I was counting then, but surely if I had been I would've seen us with a nice comfy home where we'd be welcoming in our kids and theirs - 8 grandchildren :-) so far - for family BBQ's, holidays gatherings, baking and crafts and games....
         you know, the kind of things I remember doing with my grandparents! I love those memories.
Obviously, God has His own ideas. So I find myself often reminding me that His plans and timing are always the best. Admittedly easier to say than to feel sometimes.
Holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, weekends... it's tough not sharing those with all the family we have there while we are here.
Still, I know in my heart that here is where God wants us for this time. Though He doesn't have to, He proves it to us in tangible ways over and over again. Repeatedly we find ourselves in situations that for us look impossible to handle...right up until the moment when whatever is needed appears.
We still are concerned, get nervous - even a little edgy over things that we don't know the answers to. Yet we do not lose our faith and trust in God and His promises.

I would dearly LOVE to spend this Christmas season (or any group of days!) with all our family gathered together! That may someday be a physical reality. It's one of those things I dream about. Until then, whenever, wherever that may be - I do my best to focus and hold on to the joy and give thanks for the immense blessings God grants us every day in so many ways.
             Some days I'm pretty successful and some I slip and struggle with.

I am incredibly thankful for today's technology that allows us the opportunity to pick up a phone and hear the voices of family and friends on the other sides of the earth! To click a spot on a computer screen and be "in the same room" with them while we visit!      
We should do it a lot more often.

Today I'd just like to say that at Christmas when so many are looking for a sign that God still makes miracles happen - HE DOES!!!! We just have to open our eyes, our minds and our hearts and every day we can see that He is still a God of miracles!!! 

As this year winds to an end I pray that each of us will take the time on a regular basis to not only ask God to answer our requests, also to give Him praise and thanks for all that He graces us with  - and to help us be more aware of it all.
May each one truly experience the Greatest Gift this Christmas season!