Word Quilts

I know that some of you, my friends, had difficult Christmases to face this year. Well, you aren’t alone. The continuity is that Christmas comes every year. My memories are scattered all over my tree in representative ornaments, and my external hard drives and photo albums are full of Christmas pictures. Proof that it comes every year. Proof that even in bad times, there can be, there must be, Christmas.

I am crazy about my family. I am crazy about Christmas. I always want to give my family the best memories possible. As a child, it never crossed my mind to wonder if my parents had any expectations about Christmas. But, I don’t really think they did. Things were simple, easy, and my brother and I were grateful for whatever came during the holy season.

Through the years, I have had my own expectations of Christmas. It is amazing how those expectations have changed as our family degenerated. I used to expect that my children would enjoy Christmas, that all the toys would actually work, that the family dinner would turn out perfectly, and that the weather wouldn’t hamper our plans to visit our family in another state. As our children left home and married, I expected them to come to the family gathering, to be on time, and I expected the meal, now larger, to be enjoyable. As we began to be blessed with grandchildren, we expected to see their shining faces opening presents under our family tree. We expected to get to play with their new toys with them and to read them the books we had given them. We expected nothing from them except to just be with them and give them our love in hugs, kisses, and presents. These are simple expectations, right? Wrong! Continue reading →

I basically grew up downtown since my parents had a business there. The shoe shop was on a side street just a few doors down from the main avenue. I knew that I was finally growing up when my mother allowed me to go roam the avenue alone. Those were the days when everything important was downtown. The banks. The big Post Office with marble floors and gold twistie combination keys on the glass fronts of post office boxes. Hunt’s Department Store had its bargain basement. Then there was the Boston Store. We didn’t shop there much. The bread bakery. Oh how I loved being downtown when they were baking. Cities just don’t smell like that any more. Further down was the cracker factory (not THAT one but Wortz Cracker Factory). In my senior year of high school I had a wonderful encounter with Mr. Wortz himself. But that’s another memory. Even Sears and Montgomery Ward were still downtown. But my favorite stores were McCrory and Woolworth, the quintessential five-and-dimes complete with the-real-deal soda fountains. High ceilings, ancient wooden floors. Aisles jammed with makeup and accessories and kitchenware and clothing and anything else you could think of. I think I learned a lot about life by just browsing the wide, wooden shelves of the old five-and-dimes. Continue reading →

When it was announced there would be an office-decorating contest at work for Christmas, I immediately began to think about possible ideas. For me it has to start with Scripture, so I went through my mental repertoire looking for just the right one. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not get away from John 10:10. I finally took the “hint” that this was where I was destined to start. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Abundant life. Not only for the future, but for the present. This came out of a grateful Thanksgiving heart. No matter how bad things get, God always gives me something to enjoy. His blessings. Continue reading →