Dancing with Ladybugs: Sunrise, Sunset

The holiday season has brought me two weeks of much-needed vacation time from work. What a treat to not have to get up at 5:30am and rush out the door to drop kids off at school, commute 60 miles to the office and spend the day on conference calls and emails. We didn't travel this holiday, our family came to us. I had grand ideas for posts on this blog (and my other two) but opted to stay away from the computer as much as possible, to give my brain a break and focus on my family and my kids. However, on New Year's Eve, I can't help but stop and marvel on how amazing it is that yet another year has gone by again.... already.

My family's holiday season began by celebrating Hanukkah with my husband's family. Being in a mixed-religion marriage poses it's share of challenges, but also it's share of wonderful opportunities. One of these is the opportunity to expose our children to different customs, traditions, beliefs and celebrations. Hanukkah, at it's core, is a celebration of a miracle, proof that God will always provide. The oil in the lamp was only supposed to last for one night but by the grace of God, the menorah stayed lit for eight nights. Even if you're not Jewish (I'm not), I think this is such a great lesson in faith, in miracles, in the power of a higher being. I can apply this lesson to my own life so easily. Even in the hardest, most difficult times... even when I don't know how I'll make it to tomorrow... even when I am sure the world will crash in around me... God always provides and somehow, I always make it through. I can't think of a more perfect reminder to begin the holiday season.

After Hanukkah came the Christmas celebration at my house, with all of my family in town. This happens at most once a year so it's always such a special time, to have my parents and both siblings together in the same place. I have a lot of beautiful Christmas memories this year but the one that stands out the most is the simple message the Pastor delivered at Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. It was about Joy.

He asked us to think of "joy" as standing for Jesus, Others, Yourself. He reminded us that putting those in any other order wouldn't bring us JOY, it could only bring us YOJ. The only way to have to Joy in your life (at the holidays and always) is to put Jesus first, Others second and Yourself third. Though "Joy" seems to be a word we use the most at Christmas time, it will now become a year-round word in our house and I'll do my best to keep JOYous, 365 days each year.

Perhaps the most memorable moment so far, however, was our "Sunrise, Sunset" day on the Saturday after Christmas. I thought my husband was nuts when he suggested we get up before dawn and drive to the beach (we live on the east coast of South Florida) to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean, then drive west across the state to watch it set over the Gulf of Mexico. Somehow, though, we (seven of us) all managed to get up and out of bed and in the car in time to actually get to the beach before sunrise, and we all survived the 2.5 hour car ride to the west coast later in the afternoon.

We've seen the sun rise before, seen it set before... but never both on the same day over two bodies of water on opposite sides of the state. We've taken for granted that the sun will indeed rise each day and set each night but to watch it do so in person, so intentionally, was a beautiful treat that I won't soon forget. It reminded me that if you just take the time to stop and look, you can see the beauty of the world around you, see God's hand at work. No matter what comes in between the sunrise and the sunset (of the day, the season, the year or your life), God will begin it beautifully and end it in the same manner. And hopefully, your moments in between will be just as special.

My words could never describe the beauty of these events, so since a picture is worth 1000 of them....