Lots of us take road-trips this time of year. 🎶"Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go . . . ." I wonder if kids still learn this song. I live in the woods so whoever visits this grandma's house comes past the meadow and through the trees.
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| No, we don't have snow yet |
Most of us moms and grand-moms have prepared more holiday dinners than we can count. Our church also hosts a Thanksgiving feast on the day itself and just a month later a Christmas meal. Whoever wanders in has the best traditional dinner.
This year five members of our New Jersey family braved I-95 for Thanksgiving at our house. It's a harrowing road-trip but for how early they leave. They saw the sun rise somewhere over Maryland. Family from Florida flew in, amazingly without delay.
Our own road-trip was to St. Louis and back to see relatives right before the holidays. We drove through North Carolina, Virginia, W. Virginia, across Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois and over the Mississippi River to get to our home town. Mobility issues, some memory loss, two marvelous children, one with special needs--concerns disappear in the joy of being together. And of course we remember when everyone was worried about whether the two sides of the St. Louis Arch would meet, we're that old.
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| St Louis Arch, 630 ft tall, 630 ft wide |
All I am thinking about now is how I want this holiday season to be a refresh for everyone. I'm sticking to making my best efforts to buy local. Our town has some wonderful Christmas markets with makers who design unique gifts. I have those marked on my calendar. One year we found small fused glass mirrors that everyone still has hanging making their homes more beautiful. My husband asked for a radio this year, totally retro. When streaming and online go out, we can listen to the radio! 😊 We have in independent book shop that everybody likes.
It's important, isn't it, that however big or small our Thanksgiving and Christmas are, however confined our expansive our life, that we are thankful to be alive, to be as healthy as ever we are, for family and friends even if remembered, or especially if remembered. From Thanksgiving we move right into Advent. Tomorrow the first Advent Candle will be lit in churches around the world. We begin our time of waiting for the eternally new birth of the Savior in whom we believe.
Every year I look forward to this season of long nights and preparation. If I were even older and lived alone, I believe I would still feel Christ's love and the blessings of a very average life holding me gently aloft. Wishing for you in a month that can be hurried, in a year when our government has made each of our lives more difficult, a time where peace and joy undergird your thoughts, even the hard ones.
With much love, Nina Naomi
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