Beautiful day to be alive and spending the day on Mother Earth. The sky is azure blue, clear and cloudless. Mother Nature is blowing a cool breeze, the wind chimes pounding out a winter symphony, the bird feeders full of purple finches and crimson and fawn brown cardinals. The little wren, his chest pumped out with song, is serenading his lover from the porch bannister. The bamboo are getting an aerobic work out bending and swaying in time with the banging wind chimes. The green of the bamboo fronds against the azure sky is a picture of contrasting colors.

I’m getting things finished for our family Christmas dinner party. Oldest sister-in-law and I went to LaGrange to get the shrimp this morning. I’ve made a caramel cake, a pecan pie, two dozen little pastry shells for cherry tarts, made a platter of deviled eggs, cooked my collards, and I’m getting my big ham ready for the oven. In the morning I’ll toast some pecans and whip my whipping cream. Oldest brother brought me a huge bag of pecans he purchased at the feed store. We love toasted pecans.

Gonna have a hot chocolate bar for the children. Love those little chocolate spoons for stirring hot chocolate. My daughter-in-law has a delicious hot chocolate recipe made with milk and whipping cream and chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk…yummy, made in a crock pot. I’ve got sprinkles, chocolate spoons, candy canes, miniature marshmallows, chocolate chips, and whipping cream for their hot chocolate. They enjoy fixing their cups, so do I.

Could not find the moon tonight when I went out at dark. Finally noticed Mr. Waxing Gibbous Moon shining shyly through the slender leaves in the tops of the tall bamboo stalks. He was luminous but bashful as he slowly floated to his stage high in the night sky. Love this quote, “The night walked down the sky with the moon holding her hand,” Lyla K. Pearson. But I think of the night as masculine.

I noticed the stars shining prettily in the navy sky. Not a lot of sky jewels but the ones I see are beaming their lights from the heavens. Made me think of a quote I recently read by Edith Wharton. “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” I’m not sure if I’m a candle or a mirror. I think God and our faith put a glow in our hearts, a warmth that manifests in how we go about our lives. The candles burn brightly, hot with their flames. The mirror reflects the warmth and distributes it. A candle’s flame is a symbol of God and his presence and power.

When we step into the darkness and troubles of life, God is our light. Our faith in the Lord is our light, spreading the warmth of God’s love. With kindness and compassion, we can be a mirror that reflects the light of God’s love. Our words and actions mirror our Christianity. God is the candlelight of our lives. Let’s be the mirror that reflects his light.

“When God comes into your life, He lights a candle in your soul.” — Anita Bryant