Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

Sleighbells ring, are you listening???

Hello micelovers, cheeselovers, and Jesus lovers...

Today the 'sleighbells' are not Santa's emerging, but they are the sounds of the bells on the collars of Buttons, Smarties and Crunchie (the cats) who are playing out in the snow, enjoying snowball fights with Scamp the dog, whilst we mice enjoy the sight!

Our decorations are all done, although we've not done the pictures yet to post, but Mother Sally and I are struggling to get the cats excited about Christmas, whilst keeping Scamp and Baby Belle calm!

We decided to go for a walk this afternoon through Ambert, and some of the surrounding Yorkshire villages, and were quite surprised by how many different things we saw: sad faces, happy faces, worried faces, tired faces... all of these things in this time that is meant to be the peaceful, expectant wait of Advent. Are our friends just under pressure because of the approach for Christmas - or are they like this all the time, and we just notice it more now? I don't really know... but when talking to the micefolk, we wanted to remind you all that the big lunch, presents and festivities should not be at the cost of the sanity of busy mothers or the happiness of families... it goes against their meaning. Caerphilly mice do enjoy celebrations... but they are rarely perfect. We don't mind that Baby Belle's stocking has been patched up and passed down for generations, because she simply enjoys the magical idea that something special is coming to fruition: the gifts at the end of the bed are so insignificant when compared to the gifts that await us in the Kingdom of God; and our most carefully prepared Christmas lunch cannot compare to the Lord's banquet feast!

We know that we all, like you, will get so busy over the next few days... but take time to remember the good things, and find peace in the arms of God.

With love,

Ella xxx