Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19 NKJV)
As I write this (12/30/25) I am sitting in an Air B&B rental where our family has spent two nights in the greater Niagara Falls area. This week between Christmas and New Year is the best opportunity for schedules to clear so that we can all travel together. And we have. We’ve been in six states and one province, seen everything from a U.S. Army base to a 4D experience “movie” of the Niagara Falls area, and are currently strategizing how to avoid the next round of serious snow storms when we leave tomorrow. But it has been glorious to explore these new places and just BE together.
Tomorrow the young adult kids who can’t take off the work time will be heading home, and the rest of us are driving to another funeral.
My almost 104 year-old grandmother passed away two days after my dad’s funeral. While his death was unexpected, hers has been in process for the 2 1/2 years she’s been in hospice care. Although she lived well until she was 100, playing organ, painting, spending time with friends and family, blindness and ill health gradually caused her to fade away.
When I was growing up she and Grandpa were about 2 miles from where we lived. Then I moved 6 hours north and she moved 6 hours south, so we hadn’t seen each other as much in the last fifteen years. However, there was a point in my life where she was the only person vocally supporting my plans to attend graduate school, and, for that, I am grateful.
Tonight, part of me is tired of travel, hotel beds, and a very messy minivan. But, I am reminded to just BE present to what we are doing. Time spent making memories is precious. Time spent with young adult children is precious. Time spent with family is precious. So, like Mary, I will ponder these precious things, grateful for them. I will not enjoy another funeral, especially so close to my dad’s, but I will ponder the beauty and wonder of family.
As we begin 2026, let us each pause to ponder the gifts of relationships in our lives.
God,
Thank you for a new year and new opportunities to give thanks. Thank you for the many people who are blessings in our lives – family, friends, and others. Thank you for good memories that help to hold us together. As we enter in to 2026, help us to maintain hearts of gratitude for all the gifts you give us. In the name of Jesus we pray, AMEN.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV)