Second Thoughts – A House Filled with Laughter

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes I will end the day with thoughts that are important to get out.  Usually I just write them and put them in my journal folder.  I have chosen that on occasion I will share them with you Dear Reader.

Yesterday we hosted our annual Christmas Open House.  We were blessed to have a home filled with friends, family, and a few new faces.  The youngest was barely eighteen months and the eldest in his seventies.  People from all of our circles of life were present.  I was filled with joy to see coworkers, church family, and just friends.  My Daughter Christmas brought her coworkers as well.  My Sons had both friends and coworkers present.  My Grandsons delighted everyone.

 

What stays with me was the hours of laughter.  People actually stood for hours around our kitchen table just talking and laughing.  Friends from different circles met and mingled.  The food was enough.  The hearts were merry.  I learned more about people I know and love.  I learned new things about people I will grow to know and love. 

Some people dear to me were absent.  At the end of the evening before I went to bed I poured toddy and lifted my glass to my absent friends.  The joy was great and the day full.  It is never just one more thing for me.  I see all my friends and family in my home and I get to wish them great Christmas joy.

I am reminded of Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol.  Dickens describes him thus:  “He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in words and looks; in things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count them up: what then? The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.”

It takes so little to be good to others.  The prep for the party is easy and routine after so many years.  As people arrive Christmas shows them around if they have not been here before.  Someone always comments on the bubble lights.  I made some new dishes and some standards.  A friend brought the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had.

All told I was filled with joy to host these people who interact with so much of our lives.  To each of them, to those who were absent, and to you Dear Reader I wish the greatest joy possible in this season of joy. 

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."