Winters Friends

Friends and family, one of the true gifts of Christmas assembled today in my neighborhood. From 60 to 6 months we gathered in a loving environment to take part in a friendly game of cards that we call whoopee, food and fellowship. It was a good time to catch up on the events in the lives of those who we see almost everyday, yet forfeit the understanding of their burden simply because we have our own to carry on with, and so with a daily wave and a hello we go our own ways. It was very good to reconnect for all of us. I loved the patter of tiny feet wildly running towards their next adventure, dodging adults standing above them, lost within their own conversation, often about the very children that just scurried past. Watching the interaction of these young children with one another as well as with those older warms the soul.
It is now Christmas season, the weather chills the nights, and unprotected plants fall to its bitter cold, not to return until the spring thaw. The smell of smoke filters inside from the fires of others warming themselves from this winters frost. Still, the children play and I am reminded of the internal fires that burn brightly as their laughter reaches my ears, filling me with a peace that God is not yet done with us, or with me.