Salt, bread, wine, a candle and glow in the dark stars

One of my favorite movies, It's a Wonderful Life, has a scene where a blessing is given to a family as they move into their first home. A week ago, that blessing was given to me by Eliza Jane and her family. They along with other family members helped me and Autumn move into our new home. It had to be the hottest week of the summer. We started moving at 7:00am and quite around 10am, Wednesday through Friday. It worked out well. On Friday all my kids came and helped do some work around the house. My 2 SIL's, who are amazing by the way, spent time outside working. Saturday Superman and June built part of a new fence in the back. It looks great and gives me more privacy and security. But back to the blessing.

Awhile back I had made mention to Eliza Jane, that I had always wanted some one to give me that blessing whenever I had moved, and actually asked her if she might do that. She said she had already thought of it. Well, as things got closer to moving and due to lack of brain cells, I totally forgot our conversation. So, when they showed up at the door, I was truly moved. Each one of her family spoke part of the blessing as scripted in the movie. Being that I am crier by nature and the fact that my emotions were a bit raw anyway, I started to cry as soon as I opened the door, realizing what was to come. It was all so wonderful, and they were just in time for dinner. So, we all went outside and christened the backyard with the first picnic in our new back yard.

Now, you are thinking, 'so what is up with the candle and glow in the dark stars, that wasn't in the movie.' Nope, that was totally Eliza Jane. The candle, that I 'may always have light.' And the stars... may I go back in time?

About 9 years ago when my Hubby was pastoring in the Cascade Mts. in WA, we went to visit some friends a few days after Christmas. The Mrs. took me to her sons room to show me his glow in the dark stars on his ceiling. Her son had actually taken the time to place the stars so that it would look like our night sky. It was impressive. Then she turned off the light and shut the door. It was magical! I got so excited I went and got my Hubby and showed him. As soon as we could we purchased our own stars and put them on our bedroom ceiling. No matter the weather, we always had stars to sleep under. When we moved, we left them for the next people. We moved to Oregon and lived in a rental for a couple years, and yes, we left stars behind when we bought our first home, which we promptly set about putting stars on the ceiling.

Each night as we turned out the light Hubby would say' 'there's our stars.' , to which I would say, ' our stars forever.' When he passed away, I had a hard time wanting to sleep in our room. The first night after his passing, I bunked in with Autumn. The next night I slept in the guest room. But when I turned out the light, I was overwhelmed by how dark the room was. It seemed strange to me. Then I realized it was the lack of stars, there was no glow over head. No stars, no voice saying 'there's our stars', only emptiness. The next night I slept in our room, and when I turned our the light said, 'there's our stars, our stars forever.' Eliza Jane knew this story and had the kind foresight to bring me stars for my new home. Now each night I can smile at the stars on my ceiling, hear that infamous exchange in my heart, curl up under my blankets and sleep knowing that though galaxies of stars separate us, we still see the same ones created by the same God who loves us both.