Overcast damp day today on the drive home from Peachtree City. The rain clouds were thick and floating fast through the sky. As soon as I passed the “Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama” sign, the sun burst through the purple and gray clouds and gave me a beautiful welcome home, so bright I had to pull the sun visor down in the car.

I watched the sunrise last night off the corner of the porch and watched Mother Nature using her watercolor brushes in colors of turquoise and gold to paint a beautiful Georgia sunset. This afternoon she painted her Alabama sunset in similar shades of turquoise and honey, the sun walking down the horizon dressed as a white ball of fire, illuminating the evening’s gloaming. Father Sky kissed the sun goodnight and went to wake the moon and stars, still sleeping in their cloud covers of navy and purple in the night sky canvas.

The children and I made gingerbread houses this morning. I’ve never created one so I bought a box for me too. The kids laughed as I tried to put mine together. Amused that at age 67, I had never made a gingerbread house. It was harder than I thought and we all laughed as our roofs slid down and the sides fell. Eventually we finished our houses and started decorating. I realized when we started gluing the candy on with the icing we should have decorate the panels before we assembled them. Should have done some research before we started. I placed the finished houses on the island in the kitchen and gave them a good looking over. I immediately realized you could match the house to each of my grandchildren. Their personalities poured out in their creations.

The Russians were the first to associate gingerbread with Christmas in the late 17th century, baking the cookies into shapes of men and women attending parties. Monks made gingerbread to feed the hungry and help with religious instruction. They rolled the dough out and cut it into religious scenes and figures. Two hundred years later the gingerbread houses came about after the Grimm brothers wrote Hansel and Gretel and creating the houses became a holiday tradition. Building a gingerbread house reminds us that being together as a family is a gift from God.

Studying our houses, I realized we all live in a gingerbread house world. We all create our gingerbread selves in different ways all throughout our lifetimes. Some of us are stark and squared on the edges, some of us are haphazardly pasted together, some of us are decorated with beautiful candies, others are put together with holes that are never filled. But, no matter the shape of our house, God loves us all the same. He wants our houses to be filled with love and thanksgiving. He blesses our houses when we offer him thanks and prayers.

Every house needs a gingerbread man, too! Here’s a prayer I found and I love it. I think we can all learn something from the gingerbread man if we let God take charge of creating him.

My Gingerbread Prayer —

Dear Lord, Put in me the right ingredients that best reflects Your love. Don’t let me allow the world to seep into my life.

Dear Lord, Bake me with Your love and bring me through the heat and trials of your choosing so that I’m for Your service. Let me rely on Your strength so that I won’t crumble and fall apart.

Dear Lord, Give me eyes to see the needs of others instead of my own. Help me see with Your compassion.

Dear Lord, Give me a nose to tell the difference between what the world offers and what Your word says. Help me to know right from wrong.

Dear Lord, Give me arms and hands to give and work for Your glory. Help me to up lift others when they need it most.

Dear Lord, Give me legs and feet to follow You. Help me spread the news of Your birth and wonderful gift of life that You offer us.

Dear Lord, Give me the sweet smelling aroma of Your love so that others may know I’m Your child.

Dear Lord, Decorate me with Your love and make my life beautiful for You.

In Jesus name I pray. Amen. — Julia Bettencourt