A Christmas Message

This blog is a reprint (with permission) of a portion of a Christmas letter I received from Mary Kaczor.  In January Mary will take over the duties of President of the Board of Directors for FPL.  We are very grateful to Brian Iverson, who has served as our President for the past 2 years and we welcome Mary to this new role.  I thought the last paragraph of her Christmas letter was so well done, that I asked her if I could post it as a blog!

 

… Ending this letter, I want to acknowledge what a hard time we are in and that many people are suffering.  People are isolated, our relationships are struggling, the suicide rates are on the rise.  In January I will take on the role of President of the Board of Family Promise of Lawrence.  When I began volunteering with them 12 years ago, we served just four families at a time.  Now, as the pandemic puts people in a financial crisis, who have never been there before, we are serving 214 families.  The need is great and with each one of those numbers there is a child who is homeless or whose parent is struggling to hold onto their home.  Differences among the people in our country seem to have grown in this year.  Our differences can divide us to be sure.  But as we look to this season of love and forgiveness, of compassion and kindness, I know there is unit and goodness surrounding and within us.  The biggest lesson I have learned from this pandemic is to take time to quiet. To listen. To LOVE.  To cherish the beauty and awe.  There is beauty, even in the suffering, when we stop to take notice.  We have been asked to stop, to slow down, to heal.  Our Earth was able to take a deep breath when the shut down occurred.  Let’s try to do the same.  Continue reading

Christmas Eve, 2020

Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year. The usual business of the season must wind down and the pace of life must slow down.

This year… my goodness… We all have lots of words to express our feelings about 2020! It has been a year like none of us has every experienced. So much stress, sadness, grief, anxiety, illness, economic struggles and separation from those we love.Continue reading