We celebrated my mom’s 94th birthday last weekend! Her health is good, her mind is clear, and she makes people smile. That’s how I want to be when I’m 94.

To celebrate, Tom and I took her to a movie on Friday night. We saw I Heard the Bells, a production of Sight & Sound Films. It is the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his well-loved poem that we sing as a Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

Though Sight & Sound has a long history of live dramas, this was their first full-length movie. It told the story of Wadsworth and his loving family so beautifully. Though many tragedies befell them, the story is one of hope and renewed faith.

This family friendly story is powerful and moving. The costumes and sets are authentic to the time period. And the actors are well cast and excellent.

I Heard the Bells is showing in select theaters around the country this December. The website will show you if it is playing in a theater near you. If you can’t make it during this Christmas season, keep your eyes open for the DVD when it comes out. It’s a great Christmas story, and well worth the expenditure.

Maybe one reason I enjoyed the movie so much was the closeness of the family and the time they spent together. It reminded me of our home when I was growing up.

Dad and Mom created an atmosphere in our home that assured us of their love for us as individuals but also as a unit. We all had friends of our own, but our parents made family life so attractive that we were just as happy to be with family as we were with friends. While we ate dinner together every night we talked about our day. We shared silly jokes, and hard things, and good things. And we laughed. Oh, did we laugh! That casual, wonderful mealtime provided five kids with the security we needed through our growing up yearss.

And all the while Dad and Mom were training us. They taught us manners, helped us figure out answers to the big questions, and introduced us to Jesus. There was no agenda, no sense that we were their project. Certainly not for us kids, and not for our parents, either. We were just being a family.

We’ve had a few family traumas of our own—the death of two children (Tom in 1967 and Peach in April of this year) and Dad’s death five years ago. But Mom continues to love on her kids, her grandkids, and her great-grandkids. And we all love her back.

I’d say that Mom’s secret is found in her favorite passage of Scripture, Jeremiah 17:7-8. Her confidence is in the Lord. She continues to seek him for all she needs.

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I thought you’d like to see Peach and Mom together, on Thanksgiving Day, 2021. Naturally these months since she passed away have been difficult, but they have been laced with the love and grace of God. Here is the link to Peach’s obituary and the link to the video of her Celebration of Life, if you want to check them out.

God bless you with his peace this Advent/Christmas season. I look forward to seeing you again next week.
Ginger