Tonight is one of those special nights.  I’m listening to the voices of my daughter and her friends as they watch movies and celebrate Christmas with each other.  They have all gone to different schools and are coming back together for the first time since August.  There is joy, laughing, intense story-telling and great recollections.  They are a group who picks up wherever they left off.  Of course, it’s different in this time of Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Oovoo and the all the other technology they have to stay connected.

The real joy is mine though.  I am home alone.  Alot.  It’s my choice so I do enjoy the peace and quiet but I also long for the days when I was at home with my children every night, hearing their voices, being in their presence.

Tonight, while not sitting in their midst the whole night, I have truly enjoyed my interaction with them and am so thankful to their youthful, happy voices.  They still have their lives and the world in front of them and are enjoying times of little responsibility, little stress, little fear.  I’m a bit envious of their position in life.

Mostly, I’m just happy as I hear them laugh, hear them talk, debate, joke, speak in foreign accents…I’m just happy.

Grace and peace.