The month of December has been filled with love from God and dear people. My heart has been touched by many activities this month. I was filled with thanks every day as we moved to the day for Christmas. Many of my family and friends fill my heart with stories to share. I will share some of these stories from this month.
December began with a group of knitting friends. We meet on Mondays to gather and share our newborn baby hats. This is a group I joined about 4 months before my accident in February. This wonderful group followed my story from the beginning of the accident, praying for me every day. This fall I wanted to learn how to knit again. These dear friends helped me to knit again and I am able to make newborn baby hats. I was blessed to join their Christmas party lunch.
On December 11th, I “graduated” from Courage Kenny Rehabilitation. Their care for me began in May. The staff has been amazing as they have helped me learn normal activities that the accident took away for me. The staff taught me how to walk and exercise, see with my damaged eyes, learn new words and read stories. At the beginning, I couldn’t walk on my own. I couldn’t say names or stories. Their help has been an amazing gift for me through 7 months of faithful teaching. They have given me activities that I can use through the rest of my life to continue learning and growing.
I have a dear group of women who have been in my life for more than 30 years. Through this special friendship, we have loved and prayed for each other. At the terrible accident in my life last February, these dear friends started praying for me every day. Their prayers and love touched me through the past 10 months. We gathered together on December 12th for our Christmas party as we celebrated Jesus birthday and all the gifts he has given us through the past 10 months.
A very special visit to Unity Hospital on December 14th was a wonderful gift. I started at Unity in 1981 and retired from the hospital in 2022 after many years as an RN Administrative Supervisor. One of my dear friends, who still works there, walked me through each area of the hospital. It cheered me and the staff as I delivered Christmas cards and thanked them for their support since my injury in February.
Also on December 14th, we had a wonderful lunch time with friends to celebrate a special birthday. These couples have been like family to me since Gary and I were married 47 years ago. When my accident began on February 27, they all traveled to Florida to support our needs. They prayed for us every moment since this began. They are precious friends who give me smiles, laughter, tears, and love every day.
Christmas celebrations are special days for our family. Since the accident this year, there were many questions about whether I would really be able to celebrate together with my family. Through the 10 months, God as gifted me with miracles that did allow our family a wonderful Christmas celebration. Our children and their families were able to come to our home for what felt like a “normal” and blessed gathering. We shared laughter, hugs, smiles, stories and gifts. The largest gift we each celebrated is the gift from God for his many miracles through the past 10 months.
One more Christmas celebration took place on Christmas Day. We drove to Iowa to celebrate with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law at their home on the old farm area where I grew up. It was fun to talk about ‘old’ stories from our childhood on the farm with our parents. We also thanked God for the amazing miracles of healing that allowed us to be together.
The month of December has been filled with praise to God as we celebrate all the love and care he has provided this year. We can sing together with the angels as they did long ago about the wonderful gift of Jesus being born on Christmas and coming as our Savior, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
