There once was a man whose heart was full of love, but his arms were empty. With the man there was a woman whose heart longed to hold a child of her very own. Together they prayed and they waited, but no child would come to be their own. Their hearts were sad.

Then one day the woman said to the man, “We have waited a long time for a child of our own. What if there is a child out there longing for a parent to come to them?”The man said to her, “This is what we have been waiting for!” And their hearts began to hope.

 So the man and the woman set out on a journey to find their precious child. They looked high and they looked low, around every corner and over every hill. They searched for miles and miles. In every direction they searched. They were certain they would find a child of their own.

The journey was long and hard and at times it seemed that all hope was lost, but they pressed on for they knew that somewhere a child was waiting just for them. So they pushed forward. It did not matter the cost. It did not matter the distance.They would soon have another member of their family.

One day, quite suddenly, their search was over for a child had appeared. The day had finally come. Their dreams were about to come true. A little girl walked slowly toward them, her brown hair blowing in the wind. She looked them over and over again.

“Are you my new mom and dad?” the little girl asked. “Will you take me home and love me? Will I have a family at last? Will you love me as your very own?”

With tears in his eyes, the man held his arms wide open. The woman cried tears of joy as well. The child their hearts had longed for became their daughter and she is to this very day.

The man’s arms were no longer empty. The woman’s heart was free to love.The child had found her family and their hearts were glad. The child who was once without a family is now…adopted.

 

It is amazing to me how the smallest things can trigger deep feelings. I am sitting on an airplane not long go, waiting for my flight to land so I could get on with my day. While sitting there trying to relax (and not have my arms bumped by flight attendants walking by), I looked down at my shirt and caught a flicker of something light colored on my shirt.

On closer examination I realized I had a blonde hair stuck to my shirt. Obviously it isn’t mine as God has blessed me with a hair full of brown and grey. As I pulled it from my shirt I smiled from ear to ear. It belongs to the one I love the most. The one that I am eager to get back home to see. It is a reminder of my best friend.

This is a fairly common occurrence. I frequently find her hair on me as I go throughout my day. It is an awesome reminder of who she is and how much she means to me. I am so crazy in love with her. She has beautiful hair too. Let me not forget to mention that.

I especially love when I am driving with her in the car with the windows down. Invariably I end up with her hair on me from it bowing in the wind. I even end up with her hair on me days after she has been in my car. It is just waiting there for me to catch me off guard and remind me how thankful I am to be hers…and that she is mine.

It really is the small things that make me happy. I never would have thought it, but I am so glad for those times where little reminders of her catch me off guard.

What are the small things in your life that bring you joy? Are there things that you love now that you never expected to?

Verse 1

Sitting in the back of the chapel, hid where no one sees. It is hard to take in what’s happening in front of me.You look just like an angel standing in your dress. I’m here speechless, I have to confess. Because I am not dressed in my tux, standing next to you and some other guy will go with you on our honeymoon.

Chorus

It is all my fault that you chose not to stay and it has never been more clear than it is today. I have watched you all this while wearing that smile, and I die inside because You are the one that got away.

Verse 2

I wasn’t surprised the day you left though my heart was torn in two. It took a while to see that I was no good for you. I wish I could go back in time and be a different man, but sometimes its too late when you finally understand that you danced with an angel who had come down to earth and never took the time to really see her worth.

Chorus

It is all my fault that you chose not to stay and it has never been more clear than it is today. I have watched you all this while wearing that smile, and I die inside because You are the one that got away.

Tag

I am glad that he could give you what I could never give and I pray that you find happiness for as long as you live.

Chorus

It is all my fault that you chose not to stay and it has never been more clear than it is today. I have watched you all this while wearing that smile, and I die inside because You are the one that got away.

I don’t know about you, but I love Christmas traditions. For the most part. When they make sense. Do you know what I mean? Do you have Christmas traditions that you do every year? Do all of them make sense?

One tradition that we keep every year is decorating our house, usually sometime around Thanksgiving…this year it was two weeks before. We started years ago putting up the tree while having the movie White Christmas on as we decorated. When my boy arrived we added in the Polar Express after White Christmas, because we got more in the spirit and put up more decorations. It is a tradition I look forward to every year, because we make our home beautiful…with comfortable favorites playing on the TV.

Another tradition that we love is celebrating Christmas with some of our closest family friends. We started this several years ago where our two families get together every year to celebrate Christmas. When we all lived in same town, we celebrated for one long evening. Now that we live in different states, we all get together and we celebrate over one long weekend. That weekend just concluded. It was full of laughter, conversation, presents, mulled wine, Christmas Vacation, good food, memory making and so much more. It was so good to be with friends who are closer than family. This is a tradition I love.

What about traditions that have run their course? Our traditions supposed to last forever just because?What does Tradition mean?

Here is what I found:

Tradition – a custom or belief that has been passed on. A custom or widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is specific to a society, place, or time.

Something that is specific to a society, place, or time. To me that means that some traditions are obviously passed on and observed for long periods. Others are only good for a specific amount of time. They are good until they run their course.

I used to go shopping on Black Friday. There was a lot of fun and deals to be had by going out early the morning after Thanksgiving. Then it became something that I no longer enjoyed. The store gimmicks got to be over the top and the crowds were a little crazy. I had planned to share it with my boy when he got old enough, but it changed. So, I pivoted. Black Friday was something I wanted to keep as a yearly thing, but it ran its course.

Marixa and I used to enjoy going to the mall on Christmas Eve every year. We would usually go get lunch, shop around a bit, and sit and people watch. It was always interesting to see families out enjoying the time with each other. You would also see the random frantic shoppers who apparently forgot that Christmas was on December 25th again and were cramming in all their shopping. This was a time that she and I enjoyed together, just soaking it all in. It was a good tradition. It fell to the wayside several years ago as it was crammed out by other things. We enjoyed it for the time.

To me, traditions are intended to keep us looking forward to being together. We do them to enjoy the season, enjoy each other, and to remember what is important. If there are traditions you keep that don’t fit those categories, maybe it is time to re-examine them.

I witnessed wonderful example this weekend of a good tradition in practice. The time brought good friends together to enjoy each other, to celebrate our friendships, and to joy in the season. In the words of Cousin Eddie…it was real nice Clark.

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with movies. It doesn’t usually matter what kind as long as there is a good story involved. Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be all that good as long as it is told well. I love stories.

What are your favorite stories? Do you like action? Adventure? Romance? Comedy? Tear jerker’s? What stories do you identify with?

Some of my favorite movies are those of epic proportions. Gladiator. Braveheart. The Matrix. These are the kind of stories where the main character is against great odds, but is able to fight through the opposition and achieve their task. Even if it costs them their life.

I also love stories where you can see characters grow. Finding Forrester. A Christmas Carole. Groundhog Day. The Legend of Bagger Vance. In each of these stories one of the characters is shown who they really are and are given a chance to step into a better future.

Story is very powerful stuff. It has the power to challenge us. Make us think. It shapes our perception about the life that we live. We relate to all of life like it is a story, because it is. You are the main character in your story just as I am the main character in mine.

This may be a new thought to many of you, your life as a story. If you think about it, it fits. How do we recount things to each other? In story. How would you feel if you asked someone about their day and they just started listing bullet points of what they had done. You would get the basics of what they had accomplished for the day, but would not know how all of it fit together in their life.

For instance: “John, how was work today?” “It was fine. Did some spreadsheets. Took some calls. Met a new coworker. Came home.” You get the gist of what John did for the day, but it doesn’t make you jump up and down to ask them the same question tomorrow.

Or this: “John, how was your day?” “It was a good day. Took me forever to get through some spreadsheets I was doing because Mark kept popping his head in my office wanting help on a project he is doing. I am a little swamped right now, but Mark is having some trouble at home and I was glad to help him. We also had a new lady start today. I think we really hit it off. She asked me for my number. We will see where it goes…”

The first was a list of facts. The second was the most of the same details put in the framework of story. The second was more interesting wasn’t it? You get details. You get insight on what John is thinking. You get to see his day through his eyes. Story draws us in. It helps us convey meaning to things that have happened.

Have you noticed this in your life? I know I have in mine. I enjoy being around people who tell stories and live exciting things. I want to tell a good story with my life as well. Looking at your life in this way can lead you away from a normal humdrum existence. We all want to be part of a good story. If you are living a story you wouldn’t want to read, then it may be time to start writing something different.

How would thinking of your life in terms of story benefit you?