Happy to be alive -

We were out as a family for Luke's dinner last night.  I was watching this little boy - maybe a year old gleefully laughing with a french fry in his hand.  I asked the parents if it was his first time eating a french fry and they said no.  I was so inspired by this little boy that it got me thinking.  I should, we should, be THAT happy to just be alive each day.  I know too many friends and strangers that face each day literally having to fight just to stay here another day.  Whether it be from disease, starvation, or circumstance.
We should be absolutely excited to have another day we didn't have to fight for.  A gift we didn't even have to ask for.  That is the goal for me today, for 2012, and for the rest of my life.

Lights and a Big Red Bow

Christmas is completely upon us now.  I have been watching the neighbors adding lights and decorations to their homes this week.  Our next door neighbors have had a Christmas light display that is quite fabulous for the last several years. (There is even music if you roll down your window.)  We are more than happy to be the official turnaround point after people have taken in the show.  Each year recently our outdoor display has consisted of the view of our tree from the front window and a giant red bow on the front door that is in honor of my mother.  As I have watched each home become lit up this week, I have felt the need to be a little more festive.  Luckily my friend had a couple long strings of colored lights that she was giving up for adoption,  and I took the time.  Not because I felt a competition with the other houses, but because there was a spirit I felt of celebration and childlike joy when I see the other displays that I wanted at our house.  There is just something that makes me smile when I drive around at night and see beautiful lights from house to house that creates an unspoken camaraderie between people who are strangers to one another.  It is a sign of the fact that people feel hope.  Without hope there is no need to celebrate.  And there is nothing more worthy of celebration than the birth of our Savior who came into the world "To bring light to those that sit in darkness..."