My Christmas Cardinals

After I had my moment of gifting my envelopes and sharing my heart with the family, my daughter remarked: “After all our gifts were opened with excitement and lots of silliness and laughter and oohs and aahs mixed in, It was always Papaw or Papa who reeled us back to the sweet and tenderness of what Christmas is all about. Now Nana is carrying it on for us. Thank you, Nana!” I knew that the changes I made were worth the effort.

As we “mature” we start to tweak some of our traditions and make accommodations for new ones. It comes with the territory of “Senior”! Rather than resisting the changes, I decided to take hold of them and embrace them. It seems “change” has been my life since the passing of my sweetheart eight years ago. I’ve become quite savvy at accepting change and doing my best to create moments right in the middle of it.

This was my year to make changes to my typical Christmas gift buying frenzy and transition to money envelopes as Papa and Granny did. What a relief it was instead of trying to find a gift that could be used or even wanted plus trying to keep within my budget where I wanted to always ensure spending the same amount for everyone. So that was my plan – an envelope with $$. But that plan became one of sweet sentimentality when I saw a little cardinal on a rooftop ornament and I thought about the object lessons of cardinals that have blessed me so much. It was a “kiss” from heaven that I could pass along. I bought 12 of those little ornaments.

Cardinals would be my theme for this year’s giving. I wasn’t even looking for a box when I found this one with Cardinals on it and I knew it would hold my gift bags that held the ornament and the envelope as well as a letter of explanation and Cardinal photo. One box went to my Austin family (that I hid under their tree when I was with them two weeks ago) and another box made its debut to my Frisco family on Christmas Eve. I share a portion of my letter with you:

Merry Christmas to My Precious Family…………………..
Of course, you know how much I miss Papa, and I know you do, too. I really try to keep his memory alive and it does stay alive when you all are worshiping God, playing and singing your hearts out, laughing, having family fun AND, of course, fishing.
This year’s theme is the “Visiting Cardinal”. I remember at my home in Tulsa, when, one morning I opened up the shades in my bedroom and there, perched on the fence was a beautiful Cardinal. And inside the bush were a mama and her babies. The Cardinal is said to symbolize hope, joy, health, rejuvenation, and celebration -- especially for those who choose to hold the Cardinal dear. It's said you're a special type of person who is willing to care for those in need, if you love the Cardinals. I love the Cardinals! On the day that the Cardinal appeared in my backyard, and many times since, I feel like it is a kiss from heaven to me. I like to think that my daddy, mama, grandparents AND, most of all, your Papa is sending me kisses from heaven, too and cheering us on.

I'm using the Cardinal as an object lesson to remind us to look for signs that remind us of sweet times, precious people and wonderful memories. I'm in good company in doing so. Jesus was the grandest storyteller using object lessons. He often used the objects at hand around Him to teach people about God and His Kingdom. When He was by a well, He used water. After He fed 5,000 people, He taught them about the Bread of Life. When He was on a fishing boat, He said the Kingdom was like a fishing net. He told His listeners to consider the lilies, the sparrows, and the hairs on their head. When He said, consider the sparrows, there were probably sparrows flying around. When He taught the parable of the sower, there probably was a sower in the next field where He was teaching. Jesus asked the disciples to remember Him as they took bread and wine at the Last Supper. The Bible is filled with visible reminders of God’s constant communication and connection with His people.

So WHY wouldn't we see a Cardinal and think of hope, joy, and celebration AND sweet loved ones that could just be sending their love to us in the most beautiful way? So, I’ve given each of you a little Cardinal to remind you of Papa and grandparents who are cheering you on from heaven. If one happens to show up in your yard, then remember to look up to heaven and say, “Thanks, God! I needed that. Hi Papa! Keep praying for me! I promise to catch up with you one day!”

This was my subtle way of keeping Papa alive, giving Jesus the credit for it all and, hopefully, leaving a lasting impression of Nana’s Christmas message! Now I’m already thinking about what next year’s theme will be because you’d better believe – I want to leave footprints and handprints of the ONE that Christmas and EVERYDAY is all about!

Our Faith Footprints

Our Faith Footprints
A few days ago, a dear cousin (Royce Milton Beckett -- on my husband's dad's side of the family), graduated to heaven and, of course, thoughts go to the precious times we had with him, as well as the footprints he left behind for us to follow. He was a beautiful soul, but most impactful, was his faith that was lived out loud so audaciously. I loved his daughter, Tammy’s, remarks on her FB page as they knew his time of home going could be close. Her words reminded me of our words with my Sweetheart – our faith was so strong for a miracle any time, but we also wouldn’t hold him back from his eternal reward for anything, if that was God’s plan.

Tammy's words: “I'm never on FB anymore but needed to make sure everyone knew what was happening with everyone's favorite unconventional Pastor Royce Milton Beckett ;-) God can do anything and we are still asking for a miracle. If that's not God's plan, we are good with him moving onto the glorious reward of being with Jesus forever. Because of our hope in the Lord, it will only be a "See you soon, Dad"! He is quite a character and would have loved to ask you a million questions about who you are and, mostly, if you knew Jesus as your personal Savior. That was the most important question he always asked people after chatting with them. At times I would get aggravated with him about being too forward so quickly, and he would say “I may never meet them again, so I have to ask while I can.” He was having a really bad day on Mother's Day, and was so confused and disoriented, but in the middle of the delusions, he told me that Jesus was coming soon and we needed to share His love and message of salvation with everyone! So today in honor of my Daddy, would you please look up..... talk to Jesus about your life and His plan for you. Sing praises to our awesome God and lift your hands high in praise as he would if he could. Love you all. <3 Not long after that post, Royce graduated to heaven and I loved Tammy’s next FB post: “Many of you knew my Dad "up close" and personal :-) He never spoke to anyone at a normal distance. He was always close enough for you to smell his breath, LOL, and hopefully he had a mint in his mouth ;-) He was quite a character and if you knew him personally, I can promise he LOVED YOU DEARLY! He had a great capacity for genuinely loving EVERYONE. We, his family, learned early on that we had to share him with the world. We never felt unloved or neglected and knew that we were the next in line after God, BUT as he would say "I'm on a mission from God" (quote from the Blues Brothers Movie he watched MANY times, then shared with the whole family and a few other "Special People" assuring us he could mute all of the bad words and questionable things, oh my!).” I wrote a card to Elaine, his wife, and I spoke to her from my own experience -- of my own precious husband’s faith footprints and graduation to heaven. In my quiet space of thought and prayer, while I was thinking about our husbands’ faith footprints, I transitioned from those who have gone on before, to thinking about MY own faith footprints -- the imprints and effect that my time on this earth might have. Surely, we should be working as diligently to make our own faith footprints as large as we can, so we really do make a difference in as many lives as we possibly can, while we're still on this side of heaven. Every day we encounter people who need a living witness of faith. We may think "How can I make a footprint so large when I am just so ordinary?" But, God uses "ordinary" people to do extraordinary things. King David....was just a shepherd boy; Jesus....was a carpenter, His Mother, Mary, was just a peasant girl. You and I are on this earth, today, to leave behind faith footprints for others to follow. How will some people know unless we tell them. Romans 10:14 “But how can people call on Him if they have not believed in Him? How can they believe in Him if they have not heard His message? How can they hear if no one tells them the good news.” Royce was a bearer of good news and he left faith footrpints for others to follow. I'm determined to make mine the biggest footprints that I can! How about you?

Happy Birthday to ME!

My good friend, Debbie Moutsos, inspired me to wish myself a Happy Birthday. Next month, she’s giving herself a 65th birthday party. I love that! Debbie isn’t waiting on a celebration. She IS a celebration and she’s just looking for a place to land. That’s the way I want to celebrate my birthday, too! I AM a celebration because, on this day, I'm celebrating God’s goodness in selecting my Mom and Dad to give me life. They didn’t plan me. But, God did. Mom had determined my 12-years older sister would be her last, but “God’s ways are so much higher than our ways”.

I checked on a date calculator app to see how long in days I’ve been here on Planet Earth. At the time of this posting, it’s 24,837 days. 2 hours 50 minutes. That’s a pretty sobering exercise, especially in the consideration of “What have I done with those days?” I like to think that I’ve done a pretty good job as a wife, mother and grandmother and I’ve been able to grab the hands of dear friends and helped them in some ways. I like to think that I’ve left some footprints in the sand that might cause others to follow them. That’s who I’ve been so far.

I realize that I am in Act III of my play, and I seriously think about how I can make the most impact in every day I have left. If you follow me at all on my blogs and messages, you’ll know that I do my best to live in the moments, making most of the moments and sharing as much good news as I can in those moments. I’ve read in God’s Word how He will make me flourish in old age. I’m counting on that – not that I consider this ripe number of 68 as old age because I still feel like I am in the prime of my life. My son called me yesterday and asked how I was doing and my reply was “I am so thankful to be so healthy, strong and still ALIVE!” He told me he was glad I was, too.

Here’s the deal. As I am moving closer and closer to the end of my play, I’ve determined to NOT be burdened with anger, worry and being cynical. Who wants to hang around that old gal? I want to stay free-spirited. I want to have a spring in my step, full of vitality and life. I don’t want to give up, throw in the towel, complain about all that and this. I don’t want to be grumpy and cranky and the one that no one wants at their party. I want to be the one they celebrate. I don’t want to be a boring old person. I want to be sure to die living and not living to die. I want my family to go “Wow – she LIVED!” I’m not dying until I’m dead. I’m making sure I’m living every moment. Just like Jesus said on his last breath “It is finished!”, that’s when I’ll be done – not one second before then. I’ll be finished when I am finished. I’ve had an awesome life. Could you and I sit down and have a pity party about all the up and downs, in and outs, twists and turns of our lives? You better believe it. But, every day the past gets cloudier and cloudier because I’m refusing to go there. I’m forgetting those things behind.

So, here’s my goal for this grand new year. To praise more and worry less; to celebrate more and complain less; to forgive faster, to forget past mistakes, to encourage and cheer others on more, to reach out and touch more, to give warm hugs and high-5’s more, to learn more, to give more, to be more thankful each day God gives me. To add a lot more into the dash (-) that’s between my birthdate and exit-to-heaven date. By the way, I’m so thankful for those 24,837 days in the past….but each day added to that number just gets me closer to that exit-to-heaven date…..when I’ll slide into heaven with my arms up in the air, yelling “What a Ride!”