The Swedish apple that’s hung on our tree every year for over 40 years.
Except probably this year.
I sign into Twitter, and this is the first tweet I see by @DenaDyer:
Pearl One: A Christmas of Kindness http://bit.ly/t2Ll0n
Did she spell it right? Pearl? Not purl?
I click over to find out.
It’s a God thing, I think.
Dena’s posted the first of 12 Pearls of Christmas, a duplicate of a post over at Pearl Girls, the beginning of several “Christmas Pearls of Wisdom from some of today’s most beloved writers.”
What are the chances I’d stumble on the very first post?
Suzanne Woods Fisher is writing about kindness, but I see simplicity all through it.
I need that this season. Simplicity, that is.
And the freedom to be simple. Just the thought of decorating and shopping this year makes me crazy.
But Suzanne is looking deeper into the Amish way–no bright decorations, no big tree, a few modest gifts hidden under dish towels for each child at breakfast.
So maybe it’s okay that I snatched a pre-lit, white tabletop tree at a steal rather than pulling out the big tree and boxes of ornaments that would need to then be taken down and packed up again.
She talks about empty space and margins available to nourish others.
About faith and family.
About inconveniences and interruptions that are God-ordained.
About avoiding energy drain by a “frantic, self-imposed schedule” and rolling with God’s plan.
Deep. Sigh.
And there’s a giveaway for a pearl necklace and earring set.
Perfect for a gal like me who always wears pearls to remind myself of the beauty of diving and seeing deep.
I click over to the Pearl Girls site and discover women who “encounter grit and experience grace.”
Who allow God to transform pain into pearls.
Who want to make a difference in the lives of other women and children.
I’ve never heard of Pearl Girls until now.
I think it’s a God thing.
Celebrating God-bumps with Jennifer and community.
Sandra! I commented on Dena’s post, something to the effect that I couldn’t believe I was following you. I KNOW how much pearls mean to you! Cue goosebumps.
I saw your comment. Double goosebumps.
Definitely a God thing.
Your simple celebration, with the ornaments fallow in their boxes for a season, sounds perfect to me.
Lying fallow for a season. Meditating on that perspective.
I love the way God works, Sandra. Thanks for sharing. And for reading…and commenting. You ARE a pearl–in so many ways. HUGS!
Like stringing pearls. 🙂 Hugs right back to you.
I think we sometimes make life more complicated than it is. Less is more.
I excel at complicating things! Thanks for coming by, Jennifer. 🙂
Thinking of you this Christmas season that will be so very different in many ways.
And I know that there are many of us that will be looking for a new celebration normal. Rejoicing in the gift of you and others who walk with us.
Deep sighing — and deep seeing — with you, dear friend. Yeah, that’s a God Thing. Love this.
I will deep see and cross hunt with you any day. Cuz you are a God thing to me.
God continues to amaze us and surprise when we need it the most. He knows our hearts and what means the most to us. He used pearls to get your attention and then other writers to send His message. Don’t you love it? I sure do!