MERRY CHRISTMAS

As I sit here in the dark, the turkey is just beginning it's 5.5 hour roasting process, the sweet potatos are in the pressure cooker and the homemade cinnamon rolls are cooling and ready for the icing, I ponder last year. My daughter and grandsons are still in deep slumber.

If you go back to see what I wrote you will see that I did not. Last Christmas was a forced time of peace and reflection.

My son was in Afghanastan. So my phone was very important. I knew he would try to call me. As I fed animals that day, a "blue northern" came to town. It had begun to rain earlier in the day and that changed to sleet and as I fed animals, to ice.

Soon upon arriving home the roads became impassible...at least to me who owned a brand new truck. No biggie. I thought I was ready.

I started a roaring fire in the stove and put on carols. Started laundry and made last minute preps for the arrival of family the next day.

I finally sat down in my recliner and picked up my laptop to note my blog. Nothing. The power was on but the screen was black! At that time I was blogging heavily...not just mine but watching many other blogs. I did not have a good book to read so I decided that I would read my Bible and some gardening magazines before bed.

After a while I realized it was unusually quiet for Christmas eve. I looked down and my phone was not in it's usual spot. I got up and began a frantic search which included the truck....nothing.

I stopped and mentally retraced my steps and suddenly got a sinking feeling as I realized the last time I had my phone was when I came in from feeding animals and put on my pj's to do the last load of laundry.

I ran to the washing machine and there is was...inside the washer that had just completed the final spin cycle!

The screen glowed with an eerie white light...the light of death.

It never came back. I have no house phone, no computer, no cell phone and was iced in. I could not even get a call from my son overseas! I knew my family would be upset but there was nothing I could do. I don't know my neighbors well enough to ask to use their phone and it would have been a treacherous 150 yd walk in the ice.

Yet I was at peace.

When the ice melted the next day my daughter walked in the house in tears. She was so upset because my family had cancelled coming to my house for dinner and she thought that it was because they could not contact me.

I hugged her and wished her a Merry Christmas and told her it was ok and used her phone to contact everyone (who had developed bad head colds) to wish them all a Merry Christmas.

My grandboys came over though and we had a huge feast. My son called too so I could tell him again how proud I was of him and how much I loved him.

So although December 25 is not really the day that Christ our Savior was born to this horrible earth, He was very much here that night providing me with the peace of the season.

I wish you and yours the Peace intended for this Season of Joy.