Tuesday, December 15, 2009

AND THE WINNER IS . . . . . .

TRIBES is the winner of a Christmas book. Please let me know by Friday which book you would like along with your mailing address. Send it to bhansen22 at msn dot com.

The prize for the last half of December contest will be a little different. The winner will get the audio (CD) version of High Country by me or your choice of any of the books not chosen by earlier winners this year.

This seems to be my year for attending Christmas concerts. First there was the Christmas Orange concert with Marshall MacDonald. I loved it, but there wasn't much leg room between seats. Then we went to the Tabernacle Choir Concert with Natalie Cole and David McCullough. Fabulous! Then we were given tickets to the Messiah performance at Salt Lake Community College South. It was different. I barely recognized a couple of the numbers and the rest not at all. The songs were all jazzed up and sung as Southern gospel songs. This Sunday, a granddaughter is singing in her ward's Christmas program in the morning, then our own will be presented by the choir in the afternoon. Every time I get in the car or turn on the radio at home, there's Christmas music. I'm not complaining. I'm hearing it better than I ever have before.

Something happened a year and half ago, to me a small miracle, and I suddenly started hearing sounds I'd never heard before and I could even tolerate being in the same room as a violin. I've always been tone deaf and unable to hear in the upper ranges. Suddenly I discovered street lights chirp, birds outside my office window sing, and dozens of other small sounds I had been oblivious to. Along with this has come a new awareness of music. It's kind of fun to hear songs I once studied so intensely in order to appreciate them at all, now sounding so glorious.

I loved Christmas music even when I didn't hear it well. I especially like Silent Night and O Holy Night. I think Handel's Messiah, not the jazzed up version, is beautiful. I'm enjoying some of the lighter songs too like Little Drummer Boy. I think the music of Christmas brings the many facets of the season together. Through the pop songs we share the fun and magic, through the spiritual hymns our souls are touched bringing us closer to understanding this greatest of all gifts, the birth of our Savior.

We're all so busy, but take a moment to consider the small miracles in your life or share the ways Christmas touches you.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm so very excited I won! Thank you!!

Elizabeth Morgan said...

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. I love the giving part of it. As part of my high school Gold rush kick of we had some less fortunate kids get to open up early Christmas presents. They did not know we were there but the amazing of rush of seeing them so excited was amazing.

Dorothy ReNee said...

I am hoping for a Christmas miracle this year. It's painful and hard to think about what has happened in my life, but my husband filed for divorce almost a year ago. The divorce has been put on hold several times so, even though we have been separated for over two years we are still married. There hasn't been one night go by that I haven't dreamed about him. Every morning I have woke up with the dream vividly etched in my mind. We haven't seen each other in six months, but last Sunday night (in the middle of the night at 3:00 AM) I woke up and found myself on my knees praying. During that prayer I felt a strong prompting that I needed to write a letter to this man I have been married to for 46 years. So I did! It was a very nice letter with a Christmas wish letting him know that I had finally reached a point where I could forgive him from my heart. I wished him happiness and joy in his life, but expressed my desire that we might be able to be friends. I printed the letter out on pretty Christmas stationary and got it in the mail on Monday the 14th. He should have received the letter by now. He is still in Utah. I am in Texas. I don't know what will happen because of the letter, but the miracle has already happened. For the past four nights since I mailed the letter there have been no more dreams about him. I won't be getting any presents this year for Christmas, but I have something much better than that--I have the Lord's presence. And that means more to me than anything money could buy.

Jolynn_Reads said...

I'm glad your hearing things better. I'm still waiting for a miracle for my chronic back pain.

One of the things I like is the homemade things. Some people really are crafty and have great talent.
I also liked when my kids use to make things at school. My youngest is 15 now. But I tried to save things they made when they were younger. They're fun to take out and look and laugh at.