grateful solitude

It has been one of those days where life rudely whirls by you, shoving you out of the way without as much as an 'excuse me,' leaving you in its wake, wondering what just happened. 

And now, after brushing myself off and regaining my balance, I am relishing in that quiet moment between utter chaos and night time "beddy byes."  The Christmas lights are on, the trees are lit.  My daughter's prayers have been whispered and my husband is quietly reflecting on life in the cold outdoor air as he takes a brisk walk.  I am listening my 2011 Christmas CD of choice that doesn't seem so much Christmas-y, as "winter evening relaxation"  (last year's obsession and still on my top 5 list was Sarah McLachlan's Christmas CD) and am about to sit down and write this year's Christmas cards.  It's the simple pleasures like this that make me smile, sit for a moment... and just breathe.  In tune with my daughter's soft snoring through the monitor. And as I reflect back on the chaos of the day, I am reminded of a small moment that God blesses us with on occasion.

Today something special happened.  I found something very dear to me that I thought was lost forever.  It was my cross that I have had since childhood, along with a few icon pendants that each meant something to me worth more than any priceless gem I could think of.  It was morning, and I was getting ready for work.. the typical hectic day was ensuing.  As I carelessly pulled on a necklace that hung from my mirror, a flash of silver caught my eye.  I noticed my long-lost cross (going on 2 months) was hanging there on the mirror, underneath my necklace, in plain sight.  I must have put it there months ago, and somehow completely forgot about it - how I could have done this I still don't understand, since I only take off my cross when I shower...  anyway, to make a long story short, I fretted over this loss for months, only to find it now... I wonder at God's timing constantly.  Did He let me find it now because I needed to lose it to appreciate it? Did He let me find it now because when I lost it, I turned my prayers back to Him in earnest?  There are so many reasons why this could have happened.  I choose to think of it as God's will, and accept the fact that I was humbled enough to be able to have it back again. If you're Orthodox and wear a cross, or even if you just wear a necklace all the time, after a while you almost forget it's there.  I know I didn't think about my cross all the time.... so is that God's way of telling me that He's with us all the time, and we need to think about Him more often than just an afterthought? This question is more of a realization, actually.

 So, with this all being said, with the day being almost over, and with my cross safely back around my neck, I also whisper a few prayers, as my daughter did earlier this evening,  and thank God for the "rude and hectic" day, and blessing us with such lovely, reflective moments.