Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

 

When I saw this picture in it's original form I saw pieces of my life.

With the churches along the fire place mantle.  The chocolate lab laying on the floor.  The blanket draped over the couch.  One of NayNay's bones.  The couch that seems to fit me just right as well as leaving enough room for the big chocolate goofy one, Zeke, to curl up with me.

It has flattened with all my comfy sitting.  That couch is one of my happy places.  I find myself there watching tv while folding laundry.

And then there was the quote, that I barely noticed.  Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much.

I never really paid much attention to this photo..... "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much."

Friday,  December 14, 2012 we were all reminded of that.  To live well, laugh often, love much.

If you saw the news as I saw it you were at one point relieved to see only one had died.  Then one turned to twenty-eight deaths, and then twenty of them were children, and then a whole class was gone. 

And then you thought of Christmas presents unopened.  You thought of family Christmas cards just sent.  You thought of empty rooms and empty beds.  You thought of empty hearts.

I don't know what these families would say, what these children would say if they could speak.

I am reminded though that each day is a gift.  That each loved one is a gift. 

When we complain about work, traffic or rain.  When we gripe about messy rooms, laundry piles, and dirty dishes.  When we grumble over lost items or lack of time to finish a project.  This is when we must remember to live well, laugh often, and love much.

I cannot offer wisdom or answers.  I do not know your experience. I do not know your exact need.

But I know my God, and I pray to my God....and He knows you, and He knows your heart and hurts.

So I pray....for Sandy Hook.  For families.  And in thinking of those families I think of thousands of families sitting in hospital rooms this Christmas season....praying over their own loved ones.

May you find time to Live Well, Laugh Often and Love Much. 

God's biggest gifts are often little and it's the details that help us see....help us to live well...make us laugh often.....and inspire us to love much.

Debbie