On Christmas night I walked down in the dark from my house to the barn to give my horses more hay.
Unfortunately the starlight wasn't bright enough to light the route and my left foot stumbled into a big rut.
I went flying and landed on my hands and knees on the gravel. Feeling a real idiot, I lay still for a few seconds to adjust to the pain of the scrapes on my palms and knees.
Then I rolled over onto my back. As I stared at the diamond studded heavens, it struck me that if I hadn't taken a tumble I wouldn't have noticed the Christmas beauty up there.
That awesome majesty made me smile broadly in the darkness as I recognized the Big Dipper and Orion among the million other constellations God created.
My mother had fallen on her back in the house on Christmas Eve. She was visiting for the holidays and is in her eighties. Amazingly she not only got up and was able to go upstairs – albeit aided – to bed, but she came down that morning without hobbling or even mentioning the incident.
Giving Thanks For Feeling Like a Turkey!
So as I lay there, looking really silly in the driveway, I was thankful for her not having broken anything, and thankful for the opportunity to lay peacefully outside regarding God's wonders above me.
Then I got up, dusted myself off and continued with my task of feeding the horses. For a few minutes I stood outside their stalls and listened to them snorting contentedly while they munched on their hay.
All was right with my world.
Today is the last day of the year, and I wish everyone a peaceful New Year in 2012.