I love this featured photo. I used to have this lovely wreath, all tinsel and balls. But as time wears out our bodies, so time does to our stuff. The Bible says Jesus told His disciples, in Matthew 19-20, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” He wanted us to store up treasures in heaven instead. Our treasures in heaven wouldn’t break, mold, or become tarnished. Still, I liked that sparkling thing… because the wreath was just that – shiny! But like all things physical, the wreath had to go. I find that funny, that we humans hang onto useless stuff like wreaths, photos, ceramic figurines. Lately, I purge a lot.
In Australia, this is where they put their trash. In a Rubbish bin. I’m laughing now, as my daughter began saying rubbish several years before I was able to travel to Australia. But I digress. All that excess stuff is only rubbish. I either trash it or give it to people who can still use all my extras. Extras weigh you down. They slow change in your life.
Photographs have a special place in my heart, though. Fortunately, in this day and age, computers and hard drives have caught up to my compulsion to document. I have scanned as many as possible, so far. They are on my secondary hard drive. The paper photos went into the recycle bin. Rubbish.
Now, all that being said, I love this time of year. Christmas brings me to a place of joy. Joy about amazing memories with my parents, remembrances about so much family who are gone to heaven now. My Dad, who was my hero, came to the end of his time here on earth directly after Christmas in 1995. He died in January of 1996. My grief was thick. Then my Mom died in 2016, in December. The day is still ahead of me. I know my sister feels these dates strongly during this season just as I do. All our grandparents have gone on without us. We both have our husbands for the current season. I also have children and grandchildren. Our house has always had a child in it for fifty years. I always wanted five kids. What I got was two children and three grandchildren. I literally housed two of the grandkids for a long time. Number one got married. She joined her hubby to go off to see the world. Number two lives with us every other week. He’s great, really. He’s ready to get a job. To go out into the world. Number three lives across the street from us. I homeschool her. The situation isn’t so bad. I get to see her a lot.
But along with the Christmas theme, I send Christmas cards every year. I can’t remember exactly when I began doing this. Probably not until TJ and I were married for at least a couple of years. The list grew, and it grew. This year I sent about 85 cards. Some people (most people) never acknowledge the card. That’s okay. I don’t send the cards to get them back. I send them hoping someone will smile knowing they are deeply loved by us. I want them to remember during this often hectic season, that there is hope in this world.
I recently told my sister about the one time I couldn’t send out cards. Some of you remember how sick I was back at the end of 2019? I had uterine cancer (for which I am in remission)(hoo-rah!). I had to take chemo for three months. Right at Christmas, I was so, so very sick from the chemo. My hair fell out, which is not a good look for me, and so very tired. I would dose all day on the den sofa while I watched TV. Well, TJ knows this very special person who couldn’t understand any of this. We were Facebook friends, that person and I. I use the term “were” literally. She messaged me to tell me how rude it was for me to not reciprocate her Christmas card with one from us. I answered back, [paraphrased] I’m so sorry. No one got a card from us this year. I was too busy being sick from cancer and chemotherapy. Then I unfriended her off Facebook, told TJ what a class act she was, and never sent her another Christmas card… with my name on it. Only his. Yeah. She still gets a card. Mostly it comes from me, because if I die, NO ONE will ever get another one. TJ thinks I’m nuts for doing this every year. BUT there’s this thing up above about spreading hope. About reminding people of so much. So many beautiful memories we all have. Christmas. Not the presents, not the tinsel, but definitely Jesus our Savior. Hope, peace, blessings.
Here’s a cool history about Christmas cards if you’re interested. Click here!
TJ and I haven’t moved on from our current manuscripts, though we both have been able to add pages and pages to them. He sent me his Dream manuscript to edit, again. Yes, I sent it back to him after the last blog so he could redo some stuff. Now the time has come to see how that went! He would like this story to be out in January, but seeing that the middle of December looms nearer, I sadly doubt this will happen. I’ve put hours into the murder/mystery, as well. I’m getting pretty excited because he and I figured out who the antagonist is. We had anguish deciding which character would be the bad person. So, yes. Finally. But this book probably won’t be out until after February. Maybe April. Ha! TJ continues threatening me with “I have ten more books almost ready to go.” He should do his own deep editing then. ROFL!
Anyway, if you go to our appearances page on our website (here), you will also see how the year is filling up so quickly. There are four events scheduled. We expect there will be several more. So stand by, right? We hope you will attend one if you are able. We also hope you love our blogs.
If you read one of our books (or more) reviews on Amazon are like resounding joy to us. The more reviews we have, the higher up the viewing algorithm we go. More people see us when they are looking for a good book to read. PLUS we love to hear from you. Sincerely, we do.
So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Remember the actual reason for the season.
Mirror Gate Chronicles 