English: Jesus resurrected and Mary Magdalene (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It hurts to feel like some kind of peasant, or almost one, doesn’t it?

It hurts to be a poor woman; an outcast woman; an old woman; a misunderstood woman; a difficult woman; a plain woman; a neurotic woman; maybe an unloved woman.

But think of it—God chose Mary, a plain peasant woman, to bear Jesus, the King of Kings, the Savior of the World, Whose birth many of us will soon celebrate, Lord willing, at Christmastime.

It helps to know that God chose Mary, a poor woman, but who was devoted to God, to bring us Jesus—the Holy One; the Righteous One; the Rose of Sharon; Wonderful Counselor; Mighty God; the Prince of Peace.

No matter what, God sees and cares and loves. God knows everything. God is here, and there, to help.

In the fullness of time, God will send some kind of angel, maybe one angel, someone, or a whole choir, bearing Good News.

You and I may be peasant people, in a poor house right now, perhaps a poor house of the heart, but we are just the person God is looking for.

Let’s hold to Jesus, to worship Him, like Mary Magdalene.

Jesus won’t leave us. He promised never to leave us, nor never forsake us.

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Christmas tree at Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over at Hobby Lobby, the lit-up Christmas trees are already out. Autumn and Halloween things are over there too. But my family is like tangled Christmas lights all strung out, not on drugs.

It’s hard. Holidays are hard maybe every year, with all the family gathered, or trying to gather, pretending to be blissfully happy in all the hub-bub. I do remember some truly happy holidays, especially Christmas. Sometimes the happiness is real, sometimes not. Either way, the weather of Christmas usually fits, if we get winter.

I love winter, if it’s real, without those untimely flowers in January. Winter is cool and cold and offers its strange bare warmth. If people can’t find warmth, it’s easy enough and feels good to offer warmth like a soft blanket or warm socks or just company, just standing in the cold with somebody while somebody smokes a cigarette, one hand in the other pocket.

Waffle House is always open, for people who don’t have anywhere to go, or don’t want to go, to be with family at Christmastime. Waffle House is a ministry on holidays. At Waffle House, at least one cook or one waitress will be there to greet you, usually more. They might not like it, but they show up for us.

If you’re lonely or broken or broke for the holidays, you know what it means to feel like tangled Christmas lights all strung out because of the holiday blues, which can turn as dark as indigo. One woman whose family is breaking up told me she found some Christmas lights in the basement, so tangled she was thinking of throwing them away. How will her Christmas be this year? Maybe she’ll go to Florida. She loves Florida.

One year I bought a little fiber-optic Christmas tree and all you had to do was plug it up and waves of gentle colors glowed into the night. I loved turning off the house lights, staring at that peaceful tree, which never made a fuss of itself. Maybe I’ll buy another one of those little trees with the waves of colors, like deep pink and deep blue and maybe deep green. My favorite on Christmas trees is all blue, wintry blue.

Today Ms. Linda said it’s almost time to put up the Thanksgiving tree at the center. She said it would be okay to put on autumn-colored lights, like gold and orange. Then she said it would be time for the Christmas lights. Maybe I can find all blue lights, the miniature twinkling kind.

The other night I heard a preacher talk about when the Virgin Mary became pregnant with the Christ child, about how this teenage girl, who had never known a man, was told by the angel Gabriel that she would bear a child by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would overshadow her and she would bring forth Jesus, sent to save His people from sin. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son….” When Mary heard this news, she said, “Let it be done….”

Mary consented to having her whole life tangled up so God could give you and me and the whole world a Savior and a Blessed, Thankful and Holy Christmas. Just thinking about it calms me down. When I think about Jesus, it helps. He knows about tangled lights and Christmas. He’ll be there with us. If we ask, He will absorb all that sorrow into Himself. He is able to bless us with His Glorious and Joyful and Peaceful Presence. He promised to keep in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him. It’s hard to believe Christmas is on the way.

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The flowers of Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis), the finnish national flower, are now opening. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yesterday was my daughter’s birthday. I texted her in the morning, right around the hour she was born.

She texted back and it felt so good to know she’s here, in this world, which she tries to make a better place every single day of her life, building up hearts and homes.

So while we were texting, she asked me a question, one she’d asked before and she criticized herself in a way for having to ask again. But I didn’t mind at all that she asked again and I said, ask anything. I love you *exactly* like you are. You are *precious* in my sight.”

My heart nearly burst with joy, yearning to grant any little request. How wonderful it is to love somebody that much, so much that doing just about anything for that person seems almost like doing nothing, because love takes away drudgery.

Just a couple of days before my daughter asked me that question, my son asked me for something, nothing difficult, but something important. It made me so happy to be able to do something doable for him. For them.

These incidents showed me for the first time how Jesus really feels when He says in John 14:13, “You can ask for anything and I will do it so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.” He longs to hear us; help us; console us; steady us; guide us; love us! Oh, if we only knew how much He feels our feelings and wants to do even one little thing to show His love. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?

Besides her work for a non-profit organization, my daughter–who was named after one of the women who followed Jesus, supported His ministry (out of their own means) and who was among the first witnesses (all women) to the Resurrection–enjoys floral arranging, apparently a gift passed down from her paternal great-grandmother, who also loved this delicate, elegant craft.

The flower for the month of May is The Lily of the Valley, a tiny white flower also known as Our Lady’s Tears. According to Babies Online (for parents trying to give their babies meaningful names) the little white flowers were said to be what grew when Mary mother of Jesus shed tears at the Cross where He died.

White flowers are among the many flowers and colors my daughter enjoys, but she especially loves the focal flower Ranunculus. At Teleflora, you can see that, in the language of flowers, the Ranunculus says, “I’m dazzled by your charms.”

While I was thinking of my daughter and looking up flowers, I ran across the New York Times Bestseller “The Language of Flowers,” by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. The artful, floral cover says, “Anyone can grow into something beautiful.” She did. My daughter did exactly that. My daughter is beautiful, inside and out. She is like flowers, and music, in person.