Day 17: Chasing Away the Darkness with Candles of Joy

December 13th, Lucia Day.  The oldest girl in the house, adorns her head with candles and goes room to room in the dark house, chasing the early morning shadows away and illuminating a new day for her loved ones.  She carries with her coffee and Lussekattar, saffron laced buns that many love and others hate.  It's a beautiful and charming tradition as we near the darkest time of the year...celebrations took place all over the city today and I wore my Lucia necklace in tribute to this special day.  The gleaming candlelight breaking through the dark morning is an encouragement and today several things helped chase my shadows away.
**A friend posted his wife's recipe for mint brownies on Facebook.  They sounded delicious and then I saw a key ingredient was peppermint extract...I commented that I was sad that I couldn't get that.  He came right back with, "How can we ship some of that to you?"  Wow...what thoughtfulness.
**Called our dear friends in Connecticut at 7.00 a.m. their time to sing the Lucia song in Swedish to them!  The church that we served together in Chicago did a big Lucia celebration every year and Doug and I did a funny Lucia skit when they moved on to another ministry. What a good morning savoring memories of a warm time in life with loved ones.
**While proofreading the slides for Sunday, realized afresh that this Sunday is going to be an awesome service!  Now we are close to the Christ event and my favorite tunes are coming into focus.  Love the music of this treasured season.
**Wrote a very silly poem for my book club's annual White Elephant gathering on Thursday.  What joy to re-trace some of our outrageous conversations and remember some of the treasured stories we read together throughout this past year.
**Sent my little wish list to my sister and brother in law who arrive from the US next Wednesday!  What joy to have some family in town this Christmas.  Hey, I guess I can add peppermint extract to my list!  Yeah!

The darkness is thick right now, but like Lucia's candles, there were moments of joy that illuminated my day.  I am thankful tonight for God's love that spreads through friends and family that are scattered across this globe but very near and dear to my heart tonight.