The best of times

*I dreamed we were all together last night. We couldn't get enough of hugging each other. Someday we will all stand together, the same age, with the happiness that I can feel in these faces. The Lord has blessed me so generously with the greatest of families. I worry about different things about each child. Wishing I could make life easier for them. But when I look at these faces I know that I already have my wish. Everything really will be all right.
* Christmas is sheer joy.
* Nicole Butters and I shopped, wrapped, and delivered some sub for Santa items last night. It was a cold night and the stars were bright. We whispered and tip-toed to front porches. I felt like a child again. Maybe I experienced the joy that I felt when Brother Williams would come out on his front porch at night and dance and sing for the kids in the bushes.
*Nicole announced that we must do this every year because this felt like what Christmas is supposed to be.
*"That thine alms may be in secret."