The Afternoon of Life

Yesterday our pastor preached a sermon that was such a wonderful new touch to the Christmas story.  The title of his message was "The Miracle in the Mess".  He shared that the first Christmas was a mess!  It included an unexpected pregnancy, unprecedented experiences, unscheduled visitors, unavoidable threat, unwelcome arrivals, unfamiliar territory and an uncertain future.  He's going to do a series in the next four weeks, all related to that first Christmas.  The next three weeks he'll talk about the matrimonial mess, the money mess and the military mess.  But yesterday he talked about the "Mute Mess"...and that prior to Christ's arrival God had been silent for 400 years.  He shared that after that long period of silence many folks weren't listening for the right kind of noise.  He shared that the first Christmas was not the absence of noise, but a turning of the heart to the right noise...and that it's not the absence of noise in our lives but

One of the biggest advantages I've found in the afternoon of my life is the blessing of friendship.  My dear sister-at-heart, Pam, gives me so much strength and encouragement...and has helped to inspire my creative side a bit.  We got together Saturday and I made some "quickie" cards from embellishments I purchased from a nearby WalMart on sale.  I also embellished one card with turkeys and leaves cut from my Cricut with the cartridge my precious friend bought for me!  I just love fall...love the colors...love the things start slowing down a bit...love the spirit of Thanksgiving that cannot be ignored (how I wish I didn't ignore it all the rest of the year...especially since I have so much to be grateful for).  The cards above are a sample of what I'll be sending out this fall...still have more to put together. I've been pondering the things I'm thankful for and the list is too long to put it all here.  But there are some very notable things, I believe,

Life certainly isn't dormant...it's ever-changing.  I've crossed the 50-yard line and I'm discovering that the afternoon of life can be a blessing...or it can be filled with great sadness.  The blessings...(1)  I no longer have to "prove" myself to anyone (apparently 50+ gives you the clout you always wanted).  (2) If I want to slow down a little it's accepted.  I no longer feel the need to be superwoman! (3)  The children are all leaving home which means a little more time for me for the first time in 25 years!  (4)  Grandchildren!!!  Maybe this should be the first blessing because it's just so huge.  Is there anything better than little boy sugar and giggles and dancing...and I have 4 little guys under the age of 3 to fill my days...and a new grandbaby coming next summer.  The blessings just continue. But it's not all blessing...there's a "time to mourn" that I never had before.  I lost my dad a little over a month ago.  Although