There is so much I love about the Christmas story as told in Luke 2. The Mother. The Father. The Baby. The Shepherds. Oh those shepherds! I can’t imagine that there was ever anything even remotely close to preparing these lowly shepherds for the celebration they had been invited to! Joy.

It is time for us to have our own celebration of our Lord’s birth. What a special time this is. Mr. G and I were just talking about how wonderful it is to be out and about in our small town. Our church is filled with praise, celebration, love, twinkle lights and hot cocoa! Local restaurant staff is dressed in Santa hats and reindeer antlers, the decor is twinkle lights, trees, snowmen and such.

Special to have the time to enjoy all these things and to reflect on the great blessings we have that start with a baby in the manger and move to the cross—God’s master plan. Joy. The blessings of our family and our friends. Joy.

I pray this season you are wrapped in love of friends and family, engulfed in twinkle lights and stuffed full of good food and hot cocoa.

I am looking forward to sharing more garden adventures with you in 2018. We will soon start plotting and planning. You know me, I’ll be counting down the days until spring starting the day after Christmas. Joy!

A BLOOM…
It IS Bloom Thyme Friday and I do have a bloom to share… This lovely Minerva Amaryllis! Blooming right on thyme! If you want to read more about my amaryllis adventures, read on here.

SPEAKING OF JOY… 
We had the pleasure of caring for our grandboys for a week while their parents did some traveling. EXTREME JOY!