celebrations

The Preacher is at a Christian school, he has played his Native American flute and now he tells the children a story of a little Indian boy who is in charge of his own celebrations.

The Preacher is at a women's luncheon, he has played his flute and now he tells them of the same little Indian boy. 

The story is from the book, I'm In Charge of Celebrations, by Bryd Baylor.

How can I be lonely? I'm the one in charge of celebrations ...it's true. I am. I put myself in charge. I choose my own. Last year I gave myself one hundred and eight celebrations–besides the ones that they close school for. I keep a notebook and I write the date and then I write about the celebration.

I have heard this story twice now within the last few weeks and upon hearing it I wondered, do we choose our own celebrations? And then I remembered some of the celebrations that we have celebrated within this last year.

We celebrated the beautiful western sky sunset by texting a friend saying only ..."sunset alert", and them knowing that we want to share the beauty.

We celebrated the night sky by sitting on a picnic table with friends, watching the stars shooting across the sky.

We celebrated when we received a card from a friend saying that they miss us.

We celebrated by traveling to places that we had not seen in a long time.

We celebrated when we heard the voices of little children singing the praises of our Lord.

We celebrated when we looked up and saw the last of the season's aspen leaves hanging on until the very end.

We celebrated when we drove down the road and our favorite song was playing and we sang loud.

We celebrated when finding an old photo of a father now gone for 36 years.

We celebrated when we saw a son's face after being separated for too long.

We celebrated when we looked across a crowded room and saw the one we love coming near.

We celebrated when we found that perfect gift for a loved one and seeing their face light up after the unwrapping.

Are you in charge of your celebrations? Celebrate the ordinary and the extraordinary.  

Choose to celebrate!

  

Who Are the Extra-Ordinary People?

Uncle Larry

This past week the social media, as well as the television news channels, have put together montages of all the celebrities that have passed away this past year. People make comments about how sad it is to lose so many talented people in one year. They might also make comments about how good or inspiring this or that person was, although they may not know who that person was in the everyday. They are only speculating about their goodness or inspiration through some movie they starred in or a song that inspired and influenced them.

Usually I don't pay that much attention to all the celebrity hype. I don't follow movie/television stars or singers. It doesn't matter to me who they date or what they may be saying about the political process.

However, I think that maybe it shocks people to think that this person they have admired for so long, this person who has played a certain inspiring role on the big screen, this person who has sung the most beautiful love song, this person has died. How can that be?

Then I began to think about those whom the Preacher and I have lost within this past year. The Preacher lost his little sister and just this week I lost my uncle, my mother's little brother. Where is the montages of their lives? Why are their deaths not announced on the television news?

It is because they were just ordinary people. The little people. The people who live in fly-over country. That's what the media might say. But in our hearts, they were extra-ordinary. Their lives were not little and they lived here with us in this beautiful fly-over country. They were good people, they did things in their lives that inspired others. Maybe they didn't inspire the whole nation but they inspired their families.   

My uncle was a kind-hearted person. He was only 10 years older than me. My grandparents waited 10 years between their first two children and their last two children. He was funny and he had a great smile. I remember him so well. My brother and I used to stay all night with my uncle and aunt - we enjoyed being with them so much.

Unfortunately, the Preacher and I were not able to go back to Indiana to attend either one of our family member's funerals, but that doesn't mean that the loss is any less. We both have shed tears for those who we consider the bright stars in our families.

Death does come. It will come for us all. It doesn't matter who or what you have done or are doing in your lives. It doesn't matter where you live or how much money you make. What we can know is that through Christ there is a beautiful life after this one. It says in Revelation 21:4, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Our loved ones went on to be with the Lord this year and we know that they both are in pain no more.

So, when we look back upon this year and remember the celebrities who have passed on, don't forget that there may have been even bigger stars in our families that we have lost, and maybe we should be celebrating their lives during this last week of 2016.

Love from the Preacher and I