S: Are we in Grand Rapids yet!
Laura: We haven't left Traverse City.
Me: It's two and a half hours before we get there, honey.
S: I'm so excited!...
Two minutes later.
S: Are we in Grand Rapids!
Me: Not yet, honey. It's a long trip. Please, don't ask anymore...
Two and a half hours later, Sophia wakes up from a two hour nap. It's dark, rainy, and bleak, and we're sitting in a Walmart parking lot to make a last minute purchase, but Sophia's pollyannaish Christmas spirit is undeterred...
S: Grand Rapids is beautiful!
Laura: Uhh, what's beautiful about it?
S: The red lights!...
Yes, she's referring to the brake lights of all the cars that are pulling in and out of the Walmart lot...
May we, too, find the strength and will to turn off the cynical voices that plague our times so that we can truly appreciate the best of what is all around us as we gather together this Christmas and New Year to celebrate peace, hope, & love. Amen!
