Grateful Fast Sunday XXXXX

Some of my favorite miracles on the Tea Cups at Disney World

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”.  The words are by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  It has always had a special meaning to me because when we lived in Boston we worshiped in the chapel next to Longfellow’s house.  Every time I sing the song, I think about the bells he must have heard and the area where he walked.  It gives the song much more meaning.  Although it is July, I have been thinking about that song a lot lately.  I have been repeating in my mind one line in particular: “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep”.    This line has held a certain significance for me lately has I have been reflecting on the many miracles I have seen in my life.  They have not been the grand miracles that many think of when they think of miracles.  They have been the small quiet kind that unless one looks for them, they will be seen as coincidence or happenstance.  I know that they are miracles and this Fast Sunday, I am grateful for them.  I have listed a few below.

1. I have mentioned this many times but I am amazed at how healthy we have all been here.  This is despite exposure to measles, mumps, rubella, and most likely TB.  We have also seen very few intestinal disturbances.  This blessing is nothing short of a miracle.

2. The inspiration we received to plan a trip to the U.S. instead of Europe this summer.  When we moved here, we were intent on spending our R and R (rest and recovery) tickets to go to Spain.  This past fall we both felt that we should instead plan a trip to the U.S.  This decision made it much easier for us when, in March, my sister announced she was getting married in the following summer.  If we had chosen differently, we would have already been committed to Europe and would have been incredibly stressed figuring out how to get to her wedding.

3.  The other miracles are small and almost unnoticeable.  They are the inspiration to say something to a friend, to read to my children, to listen for AQP when she is napping only to find out she is awake already, and the constant assurance that we will be safe and protected.  There are so many more small promptings from the Holy Spirit that I would describe as miracles.  They are miracles because they tell me time and again that “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.”