Today is all about family, friends, and loving one another. I’m one of those, like many in America, that took a big hit financially this past year. And this Christmas, I couldn’t afford to buy gifts for my husband or family. So instead I played him Christmas Carols on my recorder. We are going out to eat at a Buffet at a local casino. (The only gift he wanted.) And we are spending time together watching movies.
Sometimes, its hard to realize Christmas isn’t about how many presents you give or receive. Its about counting the blessings in your life. The love of family and friends. When I was a bit down yesterday, I did a few things.
1. We hadn’t put up a tree yet, so while my husband was sleeping, I snuck out to storage and got our tree. I was wheeling it in the house and saw the bedroom door still shut. Good! I can get it up before he wakes up. Came around the corner, and he was standing there and I jumped and made a little girly eeek! So he helped me get the tree up, and we enjoyed the light show our fiber optic tree gave us.
Then, we went to Salvation Army to get some cheap blankets for our feral cats we take care of. And found a little table that had drop leafs like we had wanted for $40. It just needed a little sanding. That was less than a 1/3rd of the ones we had seen that we couldn’t afford to get. So that was our present to each other, and a project we can work together on.
I reached in my jacket pocket, and put all the change in the Salvation Army bucket when we went to the grocery store. As I was walking around the store, I felt MORE change in there. I feel that was my higher power telling me, I’ll always take care of you, so that change went in the bucket when we came home.
Finally, as we got home and were unloading the table, I saw an eagle dive across the street. It made that eagle cry. I’ve seen eagles here before, but always high up. And I’ve NEVER heard one before.
All these things that happened to me yesterday were gifts. I learned a long time ago to look for miracles in my life. They are all around us every day, but we get bogged down with living, we forget to look for them. Yesterday, when I needed them, I saw them all around me. That is the gift of Christmas.
Merry Christmas everyone. Maybe the holiday spirt fill you too, and may you open your eyes, and see the miracles around you today.
