The Divine Gift - 12/22/2024
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Merry Christmas Miracle - The Divine Gift
It seems Jamie & I must have looked like criminals driving in the darkness… Merry Christmas from our House to Yours…
Oh wait… please get on your warm snuggly PJ’s or snuggliest outfit to relax in and your favorite treat & drink for this time of the year. Though my cousin Richard Stevenss loved me enough to say that it’s more like get a meal or two ready in preparation to read one of my updates.
It seems humor runs in our family. Love you CUZ! My heart understands that Christmas is not always a joyous time for everyone. The reason for the season is sacred, but this time of year tends to evoke many profound emotions & memories. Some are missing loved ones that have gone on before them; others have been diagnosed recently with a disease; some are fighting a serious illness; and still others are missing family they wish they could share Christmas with. Through the years I have had to reframe a lot of the aspects of my life that have forever changed. Yet my heart is also full at the same time with treasured memories that I once could do as I reflect, all while letting go & letting God. We do not need to understand but we do need to process to move forward.
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:14
Well it is the calm before the possibility of another storm, as I looked across the river. There was a particular warmth in the muted sunshine this morning and a chill in the air. It seems though, that there is a very special peace in the stillness. We may be welcoming winter in a heavier way, if we get the snow they are predicting. My heart enjoys a white Christmas, but I do not have to shovel etc. Apartment life is wonderful at making things that had become challenging turn magically simpler. For that I am truly grateful. It’s kind of like having grandkids… all the fun but none of the ultimate responsibility. Well except to add to the dimension of deep love based roots centered in Christ and remembering to NEVER STOP PRAYING for them & their parent(s). THANK YOU Grammy Stevens for always praying for each of us every day.
Blessings come in all different ways. Understanding & embracing your differences in a marriage can be a strength. Lately life has held many adventures for me. Peeks, valleys & everything in between. This past Monday was a particularly good day and I was feeling GREAT after “The Bottoms Up Cafe” with my infusion of 32 ounces of caffiene in my system! This readied me for action & my ADD was off the charts. Joy Seeley braved my overload of caffiene & helped me take advantage of my particulary strong day, health-wise. It is important to embrace my limitations on the days my body goes into “crash mode”… yet it is JUST as important to maximize the blessings of those days when energy is bubbling over & I am really feeling particularly strong. You might say I have days, that I feel normal, whatever that really is in our world today. Out we two girls went… between two countries no less. She let me loose to go shopping for my Honey, without my Honey. Joy & I spent Monday morning & most of the afternoon together, with an appt. break in-between. We successfully enjoyed most of an afternoon in Mardens. Something I suspect that men do not enjoy as much as we do. Those who know, just know. Missed you Lindsay & Audri.
In the morning before we left, I was so excited about this adventure.
In my over infused & reved-up ADD manner I told Jamie:
“I am so glad that you aren’t taking me out today and that I get to go with Joy!”
And he immediately responded, “You think you’re glad!?!”
Indeed humor is alive & well in our home. It is good when you make each other laugh out loud. If we are honest there are times that it can be a blessing to have time apart. Probably more for Jamie than for me, as he is constantly on a roller-coaster ride with me & my ADD. Jamie is more of an introvert and I am what you’d call an ambivert. Yes a new word for some Miss Mulholland.
At first I am sure Joy probably didn’t know what to think or do with my absolute enthusiasm for Canadian Tire. ItLori Keatingike letting a kid loose in a candy store. Canadian tire can be a big treat, when you don’t venture out often. Guess my deep Canadian roots are showing again... Then for me it was on to a favorite local shop, Union Station 14. Will miss them so, when they close.
They are like family to my heart (Lori Keating). Going in there is also an opportunity to step back in time and see reflections of my grandmother & parents etc. … When you are beginning to feel vintage yourself, the antique section tends to bring back those nostalgic memories. My Mom had those Corelleware dishes… wait… come to think of it, I still have some and some of hers! Come on, confess… how many of you still have them in your kitchen & use them? Then there are so many novel things to view while browsing in the store… many are new to me. If you stop & talk with them you learn so much more regarding the deep roots of a company, the people & why they created the products they carry today. You don’t have to go far to have an opportunity to learn new things that will change your perspective on how you look at something. You can see a deeper beauty which otherwise might have been missed entirely. It seems God is in the business of creating new perspectives in our lives too. What can seem impossible, God makes a way through. There is another Christmas Miracle that I have to share. During my Upper Endoscopy on Nov. 15… well my biopsy results are in! My specialist chose to do those biopsies because there were cells that appeared abnormal through her scope… I am grateful that she was that thorough… despite not enjoying my debut as a sword swallower. On my journey, there are many unexpected things that come up. You have to train your mind NOT to go to the “worst case scenario” and these are the times that your level of trust can be made stronger, when you have the courage to give it all to God. Ultimately you know that you can’t do anything about it. Well my biopsies were NOT cancerous! Maybe you could do a “happy dance” and celebrate those results with me.
… Oh yes the criminal look while in the darknessKathy JonesI had gone for a ride to see the beautiful, warm Christmas lights throughout our town and headed to Milltown as part of our adventure. We were so enjoying ourselves laughing & reminiscing when all of the sudden someone decided to add their own display of flashing blue lights. Hey guys it wasn’t even me driving! Kathy Jones would understand why I am saying this too. Again, sorry about your father’s new mailbox that I destroyed while turning in your driveway, all those years ago. I was still fairly new to my license & my mission was to take the garbage to the South Lubec dump & I could pick Kathy up on the way. Yes going to the dump can be a social event too. …one time after seeing Mr. Looke at the dump, who was our then Superintendent of Schools… well it became my joke with him, “Where did you get your ties?” Regarding the mailbox, in fairness to me, I had just gotten new glasses.
… oh, another ADD rabbit trail 
… Anyway back to seeing the Christmas lights… with the glow of the blue flashing lights…. Yes it seems the Mountie pulled us over and said he just wanted to make sure everything was OK. I think he was relieved when he heard we were only looking at Christmas lights. Apparently, at one point, we had accumulated quite a following of vehicles behind us. In all our reminiscing, we hadn’t even noticed. If I had my brain would have just thought, “Oh look everyone is going out to see the lights tonight”.
Remember, it’s all in your perspective. Yes, we are now officially those people. Just want to say thank you to Dr. Burbine & the staff at Vogue Optical\Charlotte County Vision Care who bailed me out when I was having issues with my eyes… then in addition my glasses frame of about 14 years, also broke last week. They went beyond the extra mile for me, so I would be able to see this Christmas. There is an especially warm blessing held within small communities. Thank you again for all your love, hugs & prayers while on my health journey.
Those of you who are blessed to see family, may God bless your time together. Remember to be a Mary & NOT a Martha. May God help each of you reflect with some memories that will warm & fill your heart this Christmas Season. After that perhaps some more colorful ones
to ring in the New Year 2025. Jamie & I will have our traditional contest this New Year’s Eve to see who can stay awake to ring in the New Year. 
Stay tuned for the results. May God touch each of your hearts, minds & souls with the food that your spirit needs. Here’s to still fitting into your jeans after the Holiday Season. Speaking of jeans… at Mardens’ Joy found me jeans that would go around my swelling tummy that seems to rise & fall with the tides 
of my journey. This was achieved at their bargain basement price of $8.98. How many of you like a bargain. Now I won’t have to wait until my next colonoscopy to fit into my jeans. .png)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God— “ Ephesians 2:8
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” I John 4:16
