Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort & Joy

—HOMERIC HYMN

turned out to be a wonderful house. It takes literally years to birth a dream, whether it’s a family, a career, a home, or a lifestyle. Dreams also extract a price.

Many dreams still wait in the wings. Many aspirations are just within our grasp if we keep stretching. Many hungers need nourishment. Many authentic sparks must be fanned before Passion performs her perfect work in you.

Some holiday traditions are sacred. In our house one such tradition is the annual Christmas classic cinema celebration. Over the course of a week, as we hang stockings, wrap packages, and munch more popcorn than we string, we watch White Christmas, Holiday Inn, Christmas in Connecticut, The Bishop’s Wife, Miracle on 34th Street, A Muppet Christmas

Now, like many of my women friends, I’m discovering that Act Two is much more interesting than Act One. Act One just sets the scene—who our heroine is, where she came from, the forces that shaped her. It’s in Act Two that the creative tension really begins to build as her story unfolds. Act Two is teeming with twists and turns as the pivotal moment

Being Irish, I don’t dismiss the belief in love charms, magic herbs, and divination, for I know there’s more to this world than we’ll ever hope to understand.

Wouldn’t the real Christmas miracle be if we slowed down long enough to remember the reason for the season, so that our holiday celebrations become authentic and meaningful?

Deadlines are chronos, the world’s time; Divinity knows only kairos, Eternity. The deadline will be met if I remember to ask for grace.

One of the unexpected blessings of writing this book is that I’ve gone back over the ordinary moments of my life, mining them for meaning.