Season's Greetings!

Many Blessings To You This Season

As the year winds down, I want to thank you all for supporting and interest in my blog.  It’s been a journey and I’m glad you were along for the ride. 
 
Writing this blog hasn’t come as easily as I had expected.  I hate to admit it, but I did anything I could to avoid writing it, hemming and hawing about what message I wanted to convey, wasting time by finding lame excuses to avert my attention. 


​Scrubbing floors and doing laundry were my favorite distractions.  Somehow, the stories came and the words followed.
 
Expect The Unexpected
 
This year ended with a big surprise in the US presidential election.  This won’t be a political commentary; but like many people worldwide, it left me feeling less secure about the future. 
 
One night a week after the election, my husband, Joerg, and I were sitting on the couch feeling uninspired and hopeless by day’s headlines: incriminating information about the VW gas scandal, the violence in the Middle East, and Syria’s exploding refugee problem were just a few of the news reports wearing us down.
 
Pray Like Children
 
Just then our son, Sean, came in to say his nightly prayers.  In his prayers, he earnestly asked God for the grace of getting him accepted into a new school.  His current school is not working out well for him so he asked if he could switch to a different one. The week before, we all went for an interview with the principal at the school our daughter, Jessica, attends to see if Sean could get admitted by next semester.  The possibly seemed slim, but Sean was hopeful.
 
Have Hope And Faith
 
Joerg and I were doubtful but we prayed along with him.   Lo and behold, the next day we received an email stating that Sean was admitted.  He was ecstatic.  His faith was heart warming, the antidote to my apathy.
 
The lesson for me is that hope is found right in your own home.  The faith of children is such a precious gift.  It brought me to a passage in the bible that says, “You must accept the kingdom of God as a little child accepts things….” (Mark 10:15).  I’ve been struggling with my own faith lately, having lost trust in humanity.  But there is hope.  And that is what Christmas really means.
 
Merry Christmas
 
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I believe it is a story based on hope for what is unseen and unknown, always cleaving to the possibility of peace on earth.  The key is to believe: you got to have faith.
 
Saint Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”
 
When I wish you a merry Christmas, I am hoping that you can find some kind of joy in your life, a star that shines within you.  It’s an exchange of goodwill, respect, and love in a neighborly way. 
 
Happy New Year
 
I wish you blessings and good health for 2017.  May your year be filled with joy and challenges that help you grow into a person of character, strength, and inspiration. 
 
Over To You
 
Going forward, I’m not sure which direction I will take this blog.  I’m leaning towards bringing a small slice more hope and faith into the world, leading by example.  I’d love to hear your input: what it is you want to read?  Do you want to share your own story of hope, love, or faith?
 
I look forward to hearing from you. 
 
 
 
 
 

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