Miracles

A couple of updates...first I am very grateful today that all of my children and grandchildren are safe and sound. Yesterday Pam was in a car accident that could have been really serious - she was sandwiched between a car and a cement truck - her van is totaled but she and the baby are fine. It is truly a Christmas miracle! She didn't have her children with her because her sweet sister Kelli was watching them while she went to the doctor's office - had they been with her they might have been hurt. Once again I am grateful for my daughters and for the love and kindness they show to each other.

I am grateful that my dad's biopsy tests came back negative there was no cancer in the tumor that he had removed from his bladder. He has been struggling with the surgery and would like to be completely healed now...but I know that he is very relieved to have this good news and know that with a little patience he can once again regain his health and do all the things he wants to do. Sometimes these struggles teach us some amazing lessons.

I have been a little preoccupied this Christmas season with craziness at work, some struggles that my children have been facing, with my dad's health issues, with Pam's pregnancy, and all of the little distractions that life sends our way. Although I have felt the Christmas spirit and been very excited for the celebration it has seemed like a different kind of year. Maybe my focus has been more on the reason for the season and less on the trappings of the season.

I have enjoyed our family traditions, going to the Tabernacle Choir concert, attending the Nutcracker with Kelli and MaKayla, going shopping with Ray, seeing the lights at the zoo, making Christmas cookies and delivering them to our neighbors, having the neighborhood sing-a-long, and enjoying my Christmas tree and decorations. But the most amazing thing that I have experienced is the change in the people around me and the fact that the focus of their Christmas has been more on the Savior.

There has been less emphasis on spending lots of money and more on gathering family together, enjoying the songs of the season, and finding gratitude in our hearts for the many little miracles that touch our lives.

I am grateful today for the joy of this season that fills my heart when I give to others, I am grateful for a wonderful family, an amazing husband, good friends, a good job, and the miracle that Christmas is.

I hope that you too find the gratitude that this season can bring!
Merry Christmas!
Cathy