Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

 

 

It is the Feast of the Holy Family and Joseph is again a prominent figure who obeys with such trust.

 



It has been a fun week at home with all my community here. The house is full of good food and I will need to really work out at the gym after all the candy and Christmas cookies. I think we have all just been able to relax and not worry about work or even some of the thank you notes still to be written.
I am getting used to our new computer and think it will be helpful but it is still puzzling in some ways. Sort of fun to figure things out!
I hope everyone else has had a good week and maybe we should begin to think of how to prepare for the New Year. A day of retreat is always good, but maybe it is better to take time over the next three days to review the year and plan for the next.
I am still keeping my gratitude journal and one of the things it sometimes asks me is to not only write about three things that went well during the day but to write why I think they went so well. It is a good way to deepen the gratitude I feel and I am going to keep this journal all of next year as it is a thick one and I just use one page a day.
Another suggestion is to make a list of all those who are still alive and you are thankful for and want to show your gratitude by later writing to them so you make the list and jot down what you are grateful for when you thought of this person in particular. Some people you want to thank for so many things, but others may just be the way they greet you that makes you feel happy. I have a list, but think my memory kept going to the many, many people who have helped me over the years and are now dead. I may have a special prayer celebration with them and name all the things I am grateful for or at least some of the things.