"You are my favorite Day", December 26th

A few days ago, my family and I celebrated "You are my favorite day", the birthday of my husbands grandmother who has been gone for 3 years now.  Her name was Stella, a strong Lithuanian woman who this year would have been 102! 

She always wanted to know what was going on in your life, listening to your stories, taking in every detail. Holy cow, did that woman have a memory!! I was not able to attend the funeral, but my husband and the kids told me of the stories everyone shared, especially all the cousins. Everyone was asked if they would write a little something about her and my daughter wrote about how she always made her feel really special. But this was not a unique experience just for her, it's how she made everyone feel. She gave you her undivided attention as if you were her favorite person in the world, because for that moment you were. And so much so, that everyone secretly held on to the thought that they were her favorite. I think the lesson learned that day is that love does not divide, but multiplies.

So it is my goal, that all of my friends and family feel as special as Stella made all of us feel. Psst, you are my favorite . . . . Love, Kim

A Christmas miracle; the reason for the season

God chose to come be with us and sent his son to be born to a virgin in a stable . . . and his name was to be Jesus.

Everything about the birth of a child is a miracle in itself, let alone the birth of Jesus. His mother Mary is a virgin, who when visited by the angel Gabriel, told her that she would be the mother of the messiah. Joseph believes Mary and is also visited by an angel and tells him the baby will be called Jesus and he will save his people from their sins. And what about the shepherds that came to the stable the night of the birth and tell of their heavenly visit?

"Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord-has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!"

And then there is the star in the sky. A star so bright that the wise men of the east see it and know that it means that the King of the Jews has been born. By camel they travel far to see this child and bring with them gold and frankincense and myrrh. By following this star it has brought them to the exact place the child lays.

But the real miracle lies in the reason for the season; it's not about Christmas lights, or a tree, cookies or gifts. It's a story about a love so divine that God himself comes to be among us, in an earthly place where there is pain in a physical world. He did this out of  great love for us; to save His people from their sins.

I believe in miracles. . . .

No photo ops?

I went to one of my favorite nurseries hoping to buy a few more purple snapdragons. I was excited to see they still had a few flats left! But I couldn't help but walk around with my camera first to find a few treasures. One of the gentlemen there told me there really weren't any photo ops this time of year. Oh, but I disagree . . .

I love how the sun comes through the grass. It reminds me of how an icicle reflects the light.

A delicate pink rose, soft and subtle, and feels kind of dreamy.

And then sitting in a shady corner all by itself was this, the beginnings of a hydrangea bloom.

After my picture taking extravaganza I went back to my car to exchange my camera for my wallet and much to my surprise they had been snatched up by someone else! That's alright, it just gives me an excuse to go back . . . not that I really need one!

It's time for Picking Poppies . . .

Have you ever started something you didn't finish? Something you had good intentions of doing but never started? Well, I have. In fact I started, or set up, this blog almost a year ago but had a million reasons why not to start. I read a quote recently that talked about how we wait to do the perfect thing and with that we do nothing. I felt like he was talking directly to me!

“Too many of us wait to do the perfect thing, with the result we do nothing. The way to get ahead is to start now. While many of us are waiting until conditions are ‘just right’ before we go ahead, others are stumbling along, fortunately ignorant of the dangers that beset them. By the time we are, in our superior wisdom, decided to make a start, we discover that those who have gone fearlessly on before, have, in their blundering way, traveled a considerable distance. If you start now, you will know a lot next year that you don’t know now, and that you will not know next year, if you wait.”

~The William Feather Magazine (care of Steve Pavlina)

Reading the part about those who have gone fearlessly before me and how they have traveled a considerable distance was kind of scary. I'm not sure what I was waiting for, but the wait is over. The time is now to start taking those steps towards blundering my own way through what I hope will ultimately be a great distance traveled by this time next year. I am excited to know what I wouldn't have known had I continued to wait. Join me . . . let's pick poppies together.