Time Together...

Happy belated Thanksgiving. The last month has been crazy so there has been little time to write but I wanted to say a few things about giving thanks.

I spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. It was needed time and time well spent. My family and I do not have the chance to see each other as often as we would like and this time together was very meaningful. My grandmother is getting older and not in the best of health so the holiday spent at the table together had new meaning. We had a great time watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and a yummy meal. I was also blessed to have a few days with them after Thanksgiving before I had to head back to Cali. It was very hard to spend the time together knowing how it could be my grandmother's last. There was even a few times I had to hold back tears because she even said it might be her last. She is the one person in my family that understands me and we are joined by a special bond.

Because, of this bond it is harder then even to think of life without her. A life that holds a whole new chapter for me soon, one she may never get to see. I am sure I am not alone in this feeling during the Holidays. For many this could be the last holiday together or the hurt of the first holiday without them. All around us there are songs and phrases that tell of the great joy this season brings, but yet for many it is not a season of joy at all. This year the Lord is teaching me the flip side of this season. I still love the sights and sounds but they are bitter sweet undertone this year. All the fun of Christmas shopping, card writing, and decorating is still on my "to do" list. As I am going about my days getting things done and marking them off my list there is a kind of understanding I am learning about....the understanding of joy and pain this season can bring.

It can be very hard at times to feel this mix of joy and pain but I am grateful for the insight God has given me because I am now able to relate more with others. He always has a lesson for us to learn to help in our ministries. Through the pain this season, at time brings, I know He has plans for me and my family to have great joy together. This will be a Holiday season I will not let slip by or say bah-humbug to.

As you go about this season I pray if you feel the overwhelming joy you remember those that feel pain and if you feel the pain this season can bring I pray you know there are others that understand how you feel.