Acres of Ability

 One fine December 6, Saint Nicholas went on his annual trek, providing tidbits of good cheer to the down-trodden.  Whistling merrily as he worked, he thought to himself, “Everyone loves my ministry.  Surprises and sweets and all good things I bring!” He whistled his way around the world, filling shoes set carefully by the door of each home with gold-foiled chocolate coins.  Just to be fair, his bag of treats included dairy-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, and sugar-free sweets.  Good old St. Nick, he kept his eye on modern nutritional issues:  He had covered it all. Or so he thought, ‘til he reached the home of a teenage girl whose shoes remained firmly on her feet, even as she slept. She awoke, howling in anger, as he untied her shoes.  “I want to fill them with candy,” he explained.  Her stubborn stare nearly deterred his benevolence.  “I have truly heavenly candy,” he extolled.  “I’ll give you the ones with peanut butter inside,” he enticed.  “What do you care about s

Yesterday was my Kyra’s birthday.  Today is the 1 st day of the Advent season.  I love that Kyra’s birthday coincides with the advent of Advent, the season of anticipation and hope.  God’s eloquence in action. Today, Kyra and I placed the first ornament on our Advent calendar: a cloud slicing the moon in two.  What better way to start out the season of hope? Without a dark cloud looming, threatening our only light, what do you need hope for? Our family fervently hopes that our dark cloud will dissipate with the miraculous healing of Kyra’s disabilities, and life will become as we expected it to be when Kyra was born, at 12:32pm, November 30, 1995. But a small part of me wonders, do we really want that life? Daily, I pray for, beg for, and anxiously await a quick and miraculous healing of Kyra’s disabilities.  Yet, while I anticipate that healing, I’m dubious of its value.  Just as she is, Kyra is a powerful force, welcoming everyone with a love and acceptance I