Advent HOPE

Hello Family and Friends

This is the week that people in our faith tradition light the first candle of the Advent Season. It is a season of waiting and promise, and it requires our trust to believe in the power of HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and LOVE sometimes amid great odds.  

Isabel has always had a circle of Advent candles on her table in December, and this year is no different.  This week, some family members shared an Advent litany with Mum even though we can't light candles in a room with extra oxygen!

We named the first candle of the circle as the candle of HOPE. 

HOPE came into Mum's room this week through six sets of visitors from her home 70 miles away at Abernethy.  These hardy folk braved a cold, snowy, windy week to bring light and laughter to Mum's room. 

As a result of their visits, there are three new plants and flowers in Mum's room. First came a red poinsetta from a friend who brings one to Mum each Christmas.  Next came a budding amaryllis which will burst forth in bloom before Christmas.  And finally, a lovely red rose set in purple Scottish heather.  Mum is enjoying each one of them.

Mum's marathon continues with HOPE and with uncertainty.  She has good days and not-so-good days amid her ever present determination and her love of visitors.  Each day challenges us to carry HOPE in our hearts and to live with patience. Each day calls us to believe in the power of HOPE to be born anew each day.

One of Mum's favourite poems is this first verse of an old poem by Emily Dickinson:

    "Hope" is the thing with feathers 

                          That perches in the soul 

                          And sings the tune without the words

                          And never stops -- at all.

With enduring Advent HOPE,

Catherine, Nancy, and Janet