It's hard to believe December is here and halfway over. I didn't get a chance to plant my tulip & daffodil bulbs from Aldi (only $5 for 30 bulbs)! What a good deal. The bulbs sit in my basement. I guess I will have to wait until next summer to plant them... October & November & September colors are gone and give way to gray and flurrying snow. Christmas decorations are up. I am thinking and blogging and baking and babysitting and singing and making art and wiping a runny nose and packing lunches and washing dishes and living.
God is doing a million things in my life. I am aware of a few, but also aware that I can't conceive of how amazing and good and wise and powerful He is.
Last night I had a chance to hang out with a friend who has quickly become a good friend, Jenny, for a long time. So long that it got goofy at the end. I can't remember the last time I stayed up til almost midnight talking to a friend and laughing and thinking... how am I gonna wake up tomorrow?! Listening to all that God is doing through her life since the passing of her Mom in October was astounding. She has a brother with a severe brain injury who has trouble speaking, but is a brilliant intelligent man. Her Mom took care of him all these years - now that her Mom is with Jesus, the responsibility lies mainly with her. She is learning how to talk to him - his way - one question at a time, slowly, intently. She is learning about his habits, his blog, the way he thinks - she has to slow down and learn his way of living. I can't help but think of Jesus in all of this. My friend is undergoing some serious sanctification as she learns how to live with her brother: she's being conformed to the image of Christ. I am so thankful for that time I spent with her last night, listening to all God is doing - it was amazing to sit back and think about how much God has done in her in just two months. To be able to see God's good hand in something so tragic like losing your Mother - who else can give Jenny that kind of hope, joy, and energy?! Only God!
This Christmas, "Emmanuel" takes on new meaning for me. Richer every year. Think: God took on human skin for me. Jesus was willing to be subject to the limitations of a human man: fatigue, weariness, hunger. This is astounding.
"Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart," I read to Grace in one of her library Christmas books. I wonder what that sounds like to a three year old. Oh Jesus help me treasure you...
