I appreciate good, clean love stories. Stories where the girl meets the guy, they fall in love and live happily ever after. Stories like: You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle and Hope Floats. We laugh and cry with the couple as they go through misunderstandings, and from the comfort of our sofas, we try to help them make the right decisions. Watching these movies may make us feel happy that everything turned out like it was supposed to, but how often does it leave us feeling a bit dejected? How many times have we wished we could be loved and… 

At the age of ten, I remember opening the hall door and peeking into the living room. My eyes must have sparkled when the twinkling Christmas tree lights lit up the otherwise dark room. A gasp slipped from my lips, and I quickly slapped my hand over my mouth for fear I’d wake up everyone else in the house. The multi-colored glistening of the lights bounced off my new bicycle that stood by the tree. I couldn’t help but giggle with excitement. This scene would have made a great Christmas commercial. Knowing I’d been told not to open that door… 

I love Christmas. I love the festive decorations and twinkling lights. I love what the season represents and witnessing the giving nature in people flourish during this special time of the year. It’s so heartwarming to pull into a drive-thru and find out the person before you paid your bill or to go to a restaurant and discover someone paid for your meal. As I stood in line at the grocery store one day, I spotted a lady digging through her purse while the cashier waited for her to pay. A gentle nudging dropped into my mind that I should… 

With achy feet and tired backs from all the cooking and baking, we exhale a sigh of relief and fall on the sofa. Thanksgiving Day is over, and we have a slight reprieve before another festive family gathering takes place. Take a look at the behind-the-scenes work goes into making these holidays extra special. We sort through recipes for those festive dishes only prepared during the holidays. Make a grocery list, a long list, of all the ingredients needed to make each one. The grocery store is like a major highway with no traffic lights. Long lines at the cash register…