2020 Christmas Newsletter


This Christmas season was slow in coming to our home.  That nasty virus that infiltrated our homes and our lives held sway over all of us. Then, a national election that keeps hanging on, bringing with it so much uncertainty for the future of our country. But we continue with our daily routines under such unusual and unprecedented circumstances.  The noise of the political storm and the insidious Corvid made it difficult to notice the quiet coming of the Christmas season. But I’m glad it is now upon us.  Birthdays, the remembrance of lives' beginning are always so encouraging much like the appearance of the early crocus that battles the snows of winter to announce life. And when it is the birthday of the baby that has upturned the world and many, many a life for eternity, it brings hope.  “Joy to the World” is a beautiful carol, but these days my heart turns more to Christine Rosetti’s poem that has been set to music, “In the Bleak Mid-Winter.”

 

In the bleak mid-winterFrosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winterLong ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him Nor earth sustain,
Heaven and earth shall flee away When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty —Jesus Christ.
. . .


There have been too many distractions and quite a bit of sadness that visited us this year.  Some would like to delete 2020 from their calendars but I won’t.  Though there were times when my faith has become wobbly, I don’t despair. God is never out of control.  He is sovereign.  One thing has always been evident for us and our home.  He’s constantly holding our hands and when we falter, He makes His presence known.  Lu is as well as could be expected.  A bit more confused at times, and there would be hallucinations here and there. There has been a trip to emergency hospital recently, but she is pretty much the same.  Last night she had a bowl of chili I made and this morning she told me it was good and that I have learned to cook!

 

On July 29th, once more grief touched us. Hildo Cordenillo, my sister Josephine’s husband of 56 years, went home to be with Jesus. This month Josephine moved out of her home and into an assisted living facility.  We’re experiencing transitions that we knew were coming but were still unprepared for. 

 

One day I was commiserating with myself for not feeling very Christmassy.  I thought I should have a good talk with myself.  Can’t let this down feeling take over me.  I looked at Lu’s wheelchair and thought a couple of red silk poinsettias will liven it and so it did.  The Nutcracker soldiers are now once more deployed by the fireplace, the nativity scene on top of the tv armoire and there are twinkly lights and candles on the windows, and in the refrigerator is homemade fudge that definitely says Christmas is here.

 

Christmas comes no matter how I feel and God is here even in the midst of my winters.  Blessed Christmas to all! 2021 is a blank sheet that waits to be written on. Here’s praying for a great one!


Christmas 2019:  Tim, Hildo, Don. Lu, Josephine

  

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Immigrant's View of American Racism

  I am a  woman originally  from the Philippines but has lived in America for almost 54 years. I was not forced or coerced by the American government to come and live here.     I wanted to come.     My father who had spent a lot of time in this country and with her people told us many stories about the United States, the home of the free and land of the brave.     He told us about how the freedom of the individual was valued here, about how one’s success in life is limited only by how much he wanted to work for it.     He told us about the system of laws it had that was far superior to what other countries had.     Most of all, he told us about Americans, God’s people, and how they honored Him.     Though he talked about how rich America was, that wasn’t his main thing.     He mostly talked about the people, how kind and generous they were.     Oh, yes, he mentioned some racism.     ...
Read more

God Gave Us New Friends!

  As we moved out of San Francisco where we have lived for more than 40 years, we were sad to lose our friends there and worried about making new friends in Arizona.     Little did we know that God had planned this for us, along with the house He picked for us, the Church we should go to, the nursing home for my older sister that we were caring for and other issues that come with such moves.     Three years later, we share our story.  Our snowbird neighbors to the left and right of us readily accepted us and have become good friends.  So did the couple across the street. Bob, our snowbird neighbor who spends the summer in their Flagstaff ranch, came within an hour of our arrival.  He warned us about the coyotes that frequent the golf course behind our house.  Suzie, who spends the hot months in Nebraska, gave us a diagram of our street with the names of the neighbors.  Charlotte, from across the street, gave us t...
Read more

My Friend Little Johnny

  When you’re 80+3 (and I made this milestone just yesterday) there are indelible memories that stand still in time.     You want to keep them there.     One of mine was the rebuke from a 9-year-old missionary kid I met, oh, possibly 64 years ago. Here’s the poem I wrote about this.   Coffee Break   Mrs. B’s home is above the King’s College Vocational shop where old vehicles sit, The smell of grease and occasionally, gas fumes greeted us. Men with wrenches in their hands, And red rags in the back pockets of their coveralls, moved about making repairs, clanging metal.   Ludy, a mechanic, would slide under the blue Chevy pickup That has certainly seen better days. It was not easy to do, as he was a bit corpulent. But he worked magic with vehicles.   An old, rusty harvesting combine imported from Kansas many years ago, Sat by the shop, against the wire fence, Looking like a monster of a machine. During the rice or corn harvest season, Faithfully...
Read more