  Drama
This week: Life's Little Miracles Edited by: NickiD89  
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| Wishing you and your family the happiest of holidays as 2012 comes to a close and we prepare to welcome in 2013. Best wishes and Happy New Year! |
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It's been a crazy ride. Here in the United States in the span of two weeks, we bore witness to the horrific pain one human being can inflict on a community and a nation, and we turned around and celebrated the biggest holiday for 'giving' on our calendar. Human perseverance is truly miraculous. Miracles have been on my mind, in fact. What constitutes a miracle, exactly, and why are they a mysterious presence in our lives?
I was thirty-three years old before I saw my first woodpecker. (What's that got to do with miracles, you ask?  Read on...) We'd just bought our first house, and I was standing on the deck admiring our back yard, a half acre of planet Earth that we could now call our own. I listened to the birds chirping, and somewhere at the back of the property, hidden beneath the dense tangle of leafy vines, a creek gurgled. Suddenly, above the backyard din, a succession of hollow raps popped across the air.
I couldn't place the sound. It came again, to my right. I turned my gaze, searching the tree canopy, and finally spotted a gray, thick-shouldered bird with a scarlet head, clamped to an oak trunk, banging its beak with surprising rhythmic speed. A woodpecker! I watched its strange behavior for a while, and I realized how odd it was that I had witnessed baboons and black mambas in the wild before ever seeing a live woodpecker.
Fast-forward to last week, the day of the elementary school massacre in Connecticut: I was running around the house, trying to prepare for the holidays despite the grief tearing at my heart and getting absolutely nothing accomplished, when a large woodpecker out the back windows stopped me in my tracks. It tapped away at its tree trunk, offering me a great view of the detailed ruffles of black, white-tipped feathers down its back. As I watched, it hopped down and began rooting its beak around in the leaf-strewn lawn. A second woodpecker joined him, his red head bobbing in and out of the foliage. Then I spotted another in a tree. And another, higher up. They seemed to be everywhere. I lost count at eight. Eight woodpeckers, at once!
It was one of Life's little miracles; the kind you feel was delivered deliberately to you.
Miracles happen all around us. We notice the big ones, the earth-shattering good news that change the trajectory of our lives and fill us with wonder. And we search for them during the darkest of catastrophes, when ordinary people show extraordinary kindness and compassion, often at great risk to themselves. But big miracles are few and far between. Little miracles, on the other hand, happen every day.
A little miracle exists amidst what's ordinary and reminds you of the mysteries at work in the universe. It heightens your senses, grips you with gratitude, and stirs your soul. It makes you acutely aware in that moment, as God whispers a message to your heart. And if you aren't paying attention or you're caught up in insignificant distractions, a little miracle can easily unfold before you, going unnoticed.
With such sadness in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting, I've decided to get a jump on New Year's resolutions by creating a Miracle Jar. In the year to come, I'll be watchful for Life's little miracles. When I witness one, I'll scribble it down on a scrap of paper and drop it in the Miracle Jar. Whenever I need a boost (or a story idea...), I'll read through them. I've already got a few small miracles in there, along with my woodpeckers:
 Early morning and I'd just finished my run. The sun broke through the clouds as I walked to cool down. I felt light and airy, and giddy with happiness. Angels whispered. I thanked God for my good health.
 A stranger held the door for me and looked right into my eyes when she wished me a good day.
 Late afternoon, I came into the kitchen to stir the sauce just in time to see my fourteen-year-old son lean over my twelve-year-old daughter's shoulder and explain the solution to a math problem she couldn't work out.
 At bedtime, I turned the hall corner in time to see my daughter hug my son goodnight before disappearing into her room and closing the door.
Every day for a week I've peered out the back windows, on the lookout for my flock of woodpeckers. I have yet to spot a single one. Thank goodness I slowed down, pulled my attention away from the unfolding tragedy, and noticed them that day, or I would have missed my little miracle.
In the New Year, I'm going to be present, live in the moment, and remain vigilant so I receive all the little miracles God sends my way. And may your Miracle Jar be full in 2013, too!
Question For Next Time: Have you witnessed any miracles lately?
Thanks for reading!
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| |  | A shopping bag (E)
A very short story inspired by a woman I helped outside a department store one Christmas.
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Question For Next Time: Have you witnessed any miracles lately?
Last Month's Question: How do you decompress after the intensity of NaNoWriMo? Here's what readers said:
Mara ♣ McBain  -- I admit I was scared to see what would happen after NaNo. The last time I didn't write for 7 months! *ugh* I think I will be okay and keep writing on a new WIP this time. The difference is that I REFUSED to kill myself and write when I just didn't want to. Oh I pushed through to word counts and such but when my whole being just said NO ... I stepped away. I know that sounds crazy and goes against everything the writing books say but I started writing years ago because I loved it and it was an escape, my time. I don't want it to be a job or Lord forbid a chore. I won't hit 50k. I won't "win" a little cyber badge or bragging rights. I will however have 35-40k more than I started with and be a happy writer and that is good enough for me. 
You have such a great attitude, Mara! And when you said you never want writing to be a chore, that totally resonated with me. I agree!!
BIG BAD WOLF is hopping  -- I like to sing- just don't be in the next three neighboring states though.
I sing in the shower, and yeah, hopefully no one can hear me!
billwilcox -- Nicki,
Thanks for featuring "The Snowman" . I haven't seen that one in a while. You must have dug deep-deep-DEEP into my Port to unearth that piece. Nevertheless, you're awesome, and I thank you.
It was my pleasure!
Jed Jones - banned novel -- Hi Nicky! Contests? Don't get me started! I've only entered 2. I highly recommend this lady; at least she gave me helpful feedback. http://www.writing.com/main/portfolio/view/memories (It's not just the 4.5 rating, honestly  ). But this one short-changed me IMHO: http://www.writing.com/main/forums/action/view/message_id/2466646 Once bitten, twice terrified of trusting anyone enough to enter marathons like this again.
Ooh yeah, that October NaNo prep is awesome! I admire both Lornda and Brandiwyn for their amazing writing talents and their consistent contributions to the success of the WDC community.
blue jellybaby -- I've been kicking back a bit, getting on with the other parts of my life that need attention, but now I'm itching to write again and I see flash fiction as the way forward!
Enjoy your time off writing, and then best of luck with the micro-fiction!!
Quick-Quill  -- This came at a good time. while the 50k is done the story is not. I will be on recovery at the end of December and will finish the story and then relax, maybe go back and work on last years novel that I am totally revamping.
Yep, when I did NaNo I wasn't even midway into the main plot at 50K! Best of luck with the story, and with the revisions on the older WiP!
In reaction to my September 5, 2012 newsletter titled "It's In The Mail" :
ingenuity66 -- Here's a good storyline to develop from... "The Call..." as a horror, but based on a True Story....
I don't know that one, but I'll look it up. Thanks!!
See you all back here on January 23, 2012. Until then, have a great month!
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Drama: December 25, 2012 Issue [#5424]
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