Advent Joy...

and a little holiday cheer!

The daily gifts from Margie and Liz have been a delight. There have been treats and trinkets as well as memories and mementoes from special places and experiences. Margie wrapped up a ticket stub from a Milwaukee Brewers game we all went to while she and Dave visited us in Madison years ago. She reflected on all that we squeezed into that trip bringing back a cherished family memory. Another gift was a sweet red bag filled with kisses celebrating the Christmas elves my kids enjoyed growing up. And Liz included a tiny "HOLIDAY CHEER" banner and a festive Christmas scarf. Thank you Margie and Liz!

I have already said that this trip was not only for Margie....but for me too. My main goal was to be the after care and support she needed during the difficult and often frustrating process of initial healing. But my personal goals have also been reached. I rested and read, crafted and connected...and I enjoyed puttering around Margie's home.

My husband Paul posted these thoughts on the Hancock Church Advent blog yesterday....and it especially hits home this year.

One of Margie's coloring pages.

"Joy is often unappreciated at high speed. What I mean is that joyful time passes quickly...time really does fly when you are having fun. But the breakneck pace of joy makes it hard to truly enjoy it, to savor it, to plumb its depths. Advent waiting is intended to slow the pace of the joy of the season, to give the fruit of joy time to ripen, so that when Christmas arrives, we have slowed enough to experience joy in all its wondrous depth."

Time has flown by....but thanks to this pause, the high speed train I was on before I came has slowed down and my week into Christmas will be enjoyed and experienced more fully.

Tomorrow I will pass the baton to my niece Clarke who will stay with Margie for a while.  I will spend a day with her mom Alyson and her husband Steve, and my nephew North (Langston) in Denver and fly home on Sunday. It has been good to be here....but it will also be good to be home.