Heaven is Rejoicing

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

THESSALONIANS 5:16-18

Wow! It has been a little while since I have written a blog post. We have had a busy few weeks. Two holidays have already come and gone. For Christmas Eve it was a small, intimate gathering. We got to witness Christmas through a child's eyes, and it was simply wonderful. To see the twinkle in Paislee's eyes at the site of the Christmas lights. To see her big brown eyes dance with excitement when she was handed a gift. To see her rip the paper off a gift and reveal a beautiful box in which she was perfectly content with, even though her true gift was inside the box. To see her more than excited to help clean up the after mess that was created, melted my heart. I have always enjoyed giving more than receiving. I enjoy seeing other's eyes light up with my crafty name tags in which never have a name on them, so everyone must read them to decipher who the gift is for. But this Christmas I was given the best gift, I got to see it through a child's eyes, and this made my heart smile. This Christmas I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace. This is the serenity that I pray for every day and on this day, it came to me. God is so Good.

After Christmas, we got to spend a week in Florida with Bailee and Tristan. We did this over New Years. Every day was packed full of adventure! We were so excited because even Paislee got to go on vacation with Mark, me, and Kalli. It was simply amazing. First, we got to visit Kennedy Space Center. We were surprised at how Paislee was in awe of everything. She enjoyed looking at all the space things and the lights. And of course, she enjoyed the snacks too. We got to go on a tram ride and view the Christmas lights in St. Augustine. We rode an airboat and learned all about the habitats of the alligator. Paislee absolutely loved the headphones that we wore that had music playing through them.

On Wednesday we headed to Orlando. We dropped Tristan off at the airport as he flew home for his grandma’s funeral. We headed to the hotel for an early morning check-in. Once at the hotel, and all settled in, we caught a shuttle to Epcot. We got to enjoy the day at Disney's Epcot with Bailee, Kalli, and Paislee. We got to see a lot of sites and rode as many rides as we could. We walked around and visited all the countries and ate at a few of them. Paislee's favorite thing at Epcot seemed to be the Frozen ride and eating popcorn. We bought a refillable popcorn bucket and I think we refilled it at least three times.

Shortly after 6:30 pm we got a call that Mark's mom Cleone had passed away. We were both sad that we were unable to be with her in her final days. However, we rejoice that she is no longer caught in the debilitating grips of dementia. Cleone is free and heaven is rejoicing. I am sure she is up there making her famous fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy for all to share. I am also sure she is in awe of heaven's beauty, and she is immersing herself in heaven's gardens and lending a hand. I am also sure that she was greeted by her mom, whom she talked of so fondly, and whom we never got to meet as she passed away long before Mark was born. Fly high Cleone. You are finally free. That night, we watched the beautiful fireworks show at Epcot. I swear the fireworks went so high that all of heaven could see. I bet Cleone saw them from above and smiled as she witnessed their utter elegance.

On Thursday, we spent the day at Disney springs. We walked around and enjoyed the sights and did a lot of window shopping. We spent some time in the hotel pool and hot tub before we ate at an amazing restaurant called The Boathouse. We were able to get a plane ticket for Bailee on our same flight home. We were up by 3:30 AM on Friday to go to the airport. We got into North Dakota and made it home safely. It has been a whirlwind of events the past week, but we are used to chaos.

In this season of change we still have so much to be grateful for. We were able to spend the holidays with both our grandchildren (Paislee and Gunnar), my mom, Justine, Justin, and Kalli. Lindsey, Mike, Kaydence, and Kreed were over for Christmas day. We spent New Years with Bailee and Tristan. This past week Cleone gained her angel wings. Although we will miss her, we are so happy she is free from the disease of Dementia. Please think about and pray for our family during this transition in our lives. We hope all of you had a good holiday season. Always remember that even the storm, there is peace.