Well, we had our family Christmas dinner tonight with delicious food and lots of laughter. The children were so happy and full of Christmas excitement. It’s been another beautiful day. Was too excited myself to gaze at the sunset. I don’t even know what kind of sky canvas Father Sky painted today but I know it was wondrous.

I put out new suet cakes and new bird seed cakes early afternoon and Mr. Downy Woodpecker quickly came down for a snack. He’s so pretty, well, handsome, dressed in his black and white checkered sport coat and his red cap. He enjoys the feeders and pecks away at the suet, intently watching for the resident hawk. The faithful cardinals were on the feeders with the goldfinches and chickadees. I put a taller bird feeder pole near the gardenia bush where the chickadees enjoy feeding and Grandpaw raccoon hasn’t been able to knock it down and steal the seeds.

My company are all snug in their beds. My grandchildren, in their bedroom, are sleeping sweetly, all snuggled down in their covers, worn out from playing with their cousins, breathing the happy sighs of contentment. My furnace is chugging away, set on 72 and happy to finally get a good day’s workout. It would probably be sad to be a steam boiler and never get a good boil going. Stew and I are used to the cold but I don’t want my company to be chilly.

Remember getting ready for school on cold days and standing in front of the fire place getting dressed for school. Daddy would turn the gas logs on and mama would have our school clothes laid out on the sofa to get ready for school. My brothers and I sat on the sofa tonight and we all felt our age when it was time to get up. We got tickled and had a good laugh as our children pulled us up. That sofa, bless its heart, has seen some good times.

Maya Angelou said, “The ache for home lives in all of us.” Such a true thought. Home is where we feel safe, and secure, and wanted, and loved. When Chief died I tried to stay in Alexander City but I longed for my family in Roanoke in a way that was different from when Chief was alive. Chief was the heart of our home. With him gone, our home was cold and bare. He had told me many times he would go before me and he wanted me to go home to my family when he died. I’d always scoff at him and say, “Just because you are 21 years older than me doesn’t mean you’ll die first.” I didn’t realize how much I missed my family till they became my home.

I think our home is not a physical place but a place where we feel we belong, where we feel welcome. God wants us to feel at home with him. No matter what happens we will always have a home with God in our faith and in our prayers. God said, “Dwell in me, and I will dwell you. God lives in our heart and we have a spiritual home in him. I love this saying, “Home is where the heart is.” So where we find our heart, we find our home. God lives in our heart and we have a spiritual home in him.

“Having a place to go is a home. Having someone to love is a family. Having both is a blessing.” —Donna Hedges