{"id":1029,"date":"2013-12-14T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-14T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/katrina.effexhost.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/14\/12-pearls-of-christmas-day-1\/"},"modified":"2025-01-09T18:51:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T18:51:21","slug":"12-pearls-of-christmas-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/2013\/12\/14\/12-pearls-of-christmas-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Pearls of Christmas Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\"12pearlsofxmas\"<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
Welcome to the <\/strong>12 Pearls of Christmas blog series<\/strong>!<\/strong>
\n
\n<\/strong><\/div>\n

Merry Christmas from Pearl Girls\u2122<\/a>!<\/strong> We hope you enjoy these Christmas \u201cPearls of Wisdom\u201d from the authors who were so kind to donate their time and talents! If you miss a few posts, you\u2019ll be able go back through and read them on this blog throughout the next few days.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re giving away a pearl necklace in celebration of the holidays, as well as some items from the contributors! <\/strong>Enter now below. The winner will be announced on January 2, 2014, at the Pearl Girls blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls\u2122, please visit www.pearlgirls.info<\/a> and see what we\u2019re all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Mother of Pearl<\/a>,<\/em> Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace<\/em><\/a>, or one of the Pearl Girls products<\/a> (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.<\/p>\n

***<\/div>\n

A Hibiscus “Hug from Heaven”<\/strong>
\nby: Margaret McSweeney<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"photo-12\"<\/a>The flurry of festivities during Thanksgiving weekend came to an abrupt halt as I began the first week of December 2013 with an empty nest. My husband was back at work. My daughters were back at college. And my brother, Claude, and niece, Mary, were back in Alabama and Tennessee.
\nBare branches accentuated the overcast gloom in the Chicago suburbs on what marked the third anniversary of my brother Randy\u2019s passing. Randy had been feeding a stray cat on his deck when the fatal heart attack struck.<\/p>\n

Walking downstairs, I whispered a prayer. \u201cLord, I am feeling really sad right now. Please help me experience your joy.\u201d As I walked into the family room, my heart smiled. The pruned hibiscus plant balanced a solitary flower that had blossomed overnight! This was truly a hibiscus \u201chug from heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her book, When Grief Is Your Constant Companion, my late mother shared her poignant poem about a hibiscus plant. She wrote this following poem several years after losing my dad to a sudden heart attack while he was in Paris on a business trip.<\/p>\n

TEARDROPS: EVERLASTING JOY
\nBy Carolyn Rhea<\/p>\n

My love, how can it be
\nThat I no longer think of you
\nAlmost every waking moment
\nAnd grieve for your loving presence?<\/p>\n

There are small spaces of time
\nWhen my life is so absorbed in present living
\nThat you are not in my thoughts at all.
\nHow unthinkable!
\nHow sad that I should forget you even for an hour!<\/p>\n

But I have not forgotten you, my dear.
\nYou are forever a part of me.
\nYou helped God shape my life
\nInto my present self.
\nI carry your love in my heart.
\nI miss you so very much and always will.<\/p>\n

But now I\u2019m caught up in trying to reconstruct
\nWith God\u2019s guidance
\nA meaningful life for myself.
\nOne in which I can help,
\nServe, share, love, grow.<\/p>\n

I remember the hibiscus plant
\nWe bought at the annual show.
\nIt was called Teardrops,
\nFor several perfectly-shaped white teardrops
\nSpattered the broad expanse
\nOf its gorgeous pink blooms.
\nHow we loved it!<\/p>\n

Then later, after it had grown much taller,
\nWe saw a different kind of bloom:
\nMultitudes of small, sturdy, happy pink blossoms
\nSwaying merrily in the Florida breeze!
\nTeardrops had been grafted onto a stronger plant!<\/p>\n

We named it Everlasting Joy.<\/p>\n

Teardrops still bloomed at the lower level,
\nBut as the plant grew ever upward and outward,
\nEverlasting Joy bloomed in profusion!<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, when teardrops fall,
\nHelp me remember that through faith
\nI have been grafted in You \u2013
\nYou, the vine;
\nI, a branch \u2013
\nEternally secure in God\u2019s love through Thee!
\nBlessed with Thy fullness of joy on earth
\nAnd the promise of everlasting joy in heaven!<\/p>\n

Thank you, dear Father for sharing your everlasting joy with me today in my solitude. We are not alone in our grief. You are with us.<\/em>
\n\u201cYe shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.\u201d <\/em>John 16:20<\/p>\n

\"12pearls-mcsweeney\"<\/a><\/div>\n
***<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
Margaret McSweeney is well-published author (A Mother\u2019s Heart Knows<\/em>, Go Back and Be Happy<\/em>, Pearl Girls<\/em>, Mother of Pearl<\/em>, Aftermath<\/em>), host of Kitchen Chat<\/a>, and the founder of Pearl Girls\u2122. Through Pearl Girls\u2122, Margaret collaborates with other writers on projects to help fund a safe house for WINGS, an organization that helps women and their children who are victims of domestic violence, and to build wells for schoolchildren in Uganda through Hands of Hope. For the past twelve years she has served on the board of directors and leadership advisory board for WINGS. Margaret lives with her husband and 2 daughters in the Chicago suburbs. Learn more at Margaret’s website<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

a Rafflecopter giveaway<\/a><\/p>\n

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Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas blog series! Merry Christmas from Pearl Girls\u2122! We hope you enjoy these Christmas \u201cPearls of Wisdom\u201d from the authors who were so kind…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2015,2019],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcement","category-giveaway"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1029"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2364,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029\/revisions\/2364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithkatie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}