Just seemed right to post a HAPPY HOLIDAY blog cuz' THAT is 

where my heart really lands.

When I was deciding what to write, I decided to share my favorite Christmas symbols 

(beyond my beautiful Lladro creche handed down from Joe's mom).   The creche sits on an old Hoosier 

cupboard (that my mother had refinished for me).  

Cool, eh?

Anyway, I hope you can see what sits on the top of the Hoosier.  Santa kneeling before the Baby Jesus.  LOVE the blending of the two stories.  Love to think that Santa and Jesus might share a smile. Oh, I KNOW one is imagination and one is faith but that works for me.

"Faith is imagination grown up."  (Leslie Weatherhead)

Why not let the belief in something GOOD begin with whimsy and mature into wonder?

There is also a wreath that I have had forever with a heart and ribbon with music on it and, of course, a forever candle.

And then, the bestest part.

From our friends, Don and Sandy, an exquisitely carved wooden Jiminy (see10/10/15 blog) who represents the Presence of Something-Bigger-Than-Me-Who-is-ALWAYS-There...and a sign from my friend, Donna, that simply says, "Be  Silly, Be Happy, Be Kind"!

LOVE IT!

There is, indeed, MUCH to brood about in life...one can see it on the TV, on line, at home, EVERYWHERE...it is EASY to just think on a dreary Monday before Christmas that things are just not as they should be.

BUT, IF one keeps an open mind and heart, there is MUCH MORE to NOT brood about.  

Joe and I were blessed to tell the Christmas story at Megan's preschool and what JOY to see their faces.  One raised his hand and said his grandparents were OLD also (just like us).  One raised his hand and asked if he could tell a joke. (Why did the chicken cross the road?  To get to Burger King!)  

LOVE IT!

We got to take our great-grandson to the mall at Christmas time.  We have been to 2 of our grandsons' concerts and heard a vast array of music...much more vast than when we were in school.  We saw a musical where everyone in it was aged 59-78...such HOPE in that!  At Holiday nights, we rode in a Model T that was even older than we are.  We served at NOAH at Central UMC where I was able to talk a man who lives on the street into trying the soup cuz' it would "put hair on his chest".  He didn't want it but he took it anyway, humoring ME with HIS humor!

LOVE IT!

AS SOON as I turn off the TV or the computer and FLIP my attitude, the list of GOOD stuff seems endless.

Oh, I am a realist and I will continue to stay informed and connected and engaged in this world in which I live BUT

there is just SO much to celebrate that I REFUSE to let myself fall into the trap of BAH HUMBUG!

So, I write this to be held accountable for using this week to INTENTIONALLY look for GOOD STUFF!

Leaning into the whimsy of Santa and the wonder of Jesus.

BEING SILLY and HAPPY and KIND!

Merry Christmas, my friends.