Christmas Eve tonight

Because my family will be here tomorrow for our "present" Christmas, tonight is essentially Christmas eve in our worldly sense.  Yesterday we did not celebrate Christmas as we had thought we would originally.

We planned to be at church bright and early for Sunday School, then church, then dinner with my brother and sister-in-law and son, then all of us back at church for the evening.
But upon waking, my husband's gout had kicked back in and he was not able to walk.  He slept until 2:30 pm, having been awake most of the night.  I got up as usual thinking I might just go down to church anyway.  Our church is over an hour away though, and it had been raining the day before... temps were down in the teens, so roads were very slick out here on the island.  It was decided that I would stay home and make sure my husband could get what he needed and get to where he needed to go.

Creatures stirring

I made coffee and a small breakfast, then sat in the living room with my Bible.  The animals had been stirring for quite some time.  The cat, Noah, loves to tease Ginger, and they were playing a game of Hide and Seek amongst the gifts under the tree.  I noticed that one gift would need to be rewrapped, having been chewed open on the back corners under the tree.  Thank you, Noah.  And the front corner had been nibbled on.  Thank you, Ginger.
I rearranged the gifts, taped over holes, and pulled out the Bible again.  And I started to read softly aloud from Luke.  As I did, the animals began to settle down.

Ginger curled up in her favorite chair, alert and watching me.  She appeared to be listening.  Noah got on the footstool by Ginger's chair.  He curled his feet under his chest in contentment.  I read all of Luke chapters one and two aloud just barely above a whisper so as not to disturb my husband finally asleep in the next room.

These two creatures never stirred until the reading was over.  The cat got down and moved to the dog's bed for a nap.  The dog leaned her head on the arm of the chair.  Soon she too was asleep.  I poured another cup of coffee, and thanked God for another blessed year.

#HaikuforHealing 

Any Day is Christmas

Each time you rejoice,

Whenever you remember -

That is His Christmas.

Make your Christmas any day, any time and any place, and and may it be all of those.