Whimsy and Joy

(Kitty) According to the calendar, today is the first day of winter. Someone in the bank said, "They call this the first day of Wind-er." I laughed out loud, though I'd never heard that before. Last night, the wind started and I don't think it's quit yet. I woke up four or five times last night when the wind whistled so loudly under our door that it woke me up!

But on the way to the bank, I saw a sight that filled me with whimsy and joy. In the air a block ahead of me was a flock of a hundred or more birds. But they weren't going anywhere. They swooped together one way, then took a dive together and up in another direction, back and forth and swirling around. The more I tried to figure out what they were doing, the more a crazy fun joy welled up in my chest. And that's when I decided that's what they felt! I think they were all just playing together in the wind!

I was never so glad for a nice long stop light. For whatever reason, I felt more Christmas-y at that moment than I have all week! (Except when I delivered gifts from the church yesterday. That was awesome!) Those birds stopped looking for dinner long enough to participate together in the joy of the moment. It was beautiful watching them dance in the air like that.

I pray that for you in the next week - that you stop in your preparations occasionally to participate with your friends or family or the strangers around you in moments of whimsy and joy. God loved the world so much that He came down in the form of His Son - the JOY of the world! Like glitter that sticks to everything, bits of that joy can be experienced everywhere.

Enjoy! And Merry Christmas from John and me! We love you! :)