Stew and I drove up to Peachtree City early morning to spend Christmas Day with Thomas and his family. We had the nicest day. The kids are growing up but they still had the Christmas morning Santa Claus excitement. So did I! Today may have been overcast and rainy but the sunshine from my family shined brightly and warmed my heart on this Christmas Day. This day was full of joy for me and I gathered more memories to keep close in my heart.

The sky was overflowing with rolling clouds on the way up, grays and purples, and white shades of clouds spitting rain, traveling quickly across the horizon. I watched the shades of the clouds turn darker and then lighter wondering if Father Sky was having trouble with his sky canvas this morning. I love all the different colors in the clouds. We drove home watching the clouds getting heavier and heavier till they spilled their raindrops.

Mother Nature held her watercolor brushes close tonight and let the sun tuck herself in bed during a cloud covered sunset. Father Sky, dressed in his black mackintosh of night, hung the moon and pinned the stars on the wet sky canvas.

Every Christmas I buy myself a book and write inside, “To me from me.” This year I bought a book titled, Eleanor Roosevelt, Quotes and Facts. I love it and started reading it late afternoon. My favorite quote of hers so far is, “Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.” To me, that is a beautiful sentiment and a beautiful thought. Think of how many people do walk in and out of our lives without making a special connection with our hearts. But when that connection is sparked, a friendship is founded and we feel their footprints on our heart.

I think we can have a friendship with God when our faith is strong, our prayers are heartfelt, and our loyalty to him is true. God will leave his footprints on our hearts when we confide in him. He will lead us down a path of righteousness. Our friends nurture our friendships and God nurtures us through his grace and love. We have to nurture our relationship with God, too.

Here is a poem I love. Its makes me remember my mother telling me, “the Lord never gives us more than we can carry.” I love the imagery of God’s love as footprints.

Foot Prints in the Sand — One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord, across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord. After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints. This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.

“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed you the most, you would leave me.” He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” — Mary Stevenson

“A good friend is a connection to life — a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.”― Lois Wyse