2004 was a watershed year for me and my family: my granddaughter was born in February at Good Samaritan Hospital, Hurricanes Frances and Jean interrupted life in West Palm Beach for multiple weeks in the fall, and my mother died in Texas just as Advent was beginning. Right after Mother died a nurse was in the room with us doing necessary tidying and she passed on a rather prophetic statement that I have remembered ever since, “No one else will care about the minutia of your life the way that your mother did.” Someone had told her this when her own mother died. That phrase comes back to me now and again when I miss my mother or wish she were around to hear about the highs and lows of her family’s lives. She was a prayer warrior and would have welcomed the opportunity to intercede on our behalf. She loved nothing more than to have a comfortable chair to relax in and a baby in her arms to steal “sugar” from.

In Luke 2:19 we learn that Mary the mother of Jesus held in her memory the angel’s words, the visits from the shepherds and the wise men, and mulled over them during her life. How much she had to capture from her son’s life where nothing was minutia.

Every mother (and grandmother) wants to see her child grow in wisdom and truth. It is painful to watch loved ones go through pain and tough experiences. Sometimes we may want to take on the hard things for a child even though that would remove the opportunity for growth and development.

As you go about your busy Advent season, become aware of the blessings around you: family, friends, colleagues, and students. Remember the profound things they say — perhaps even record them in a journal — and ponder what you can do each day to make life better for someone else. Become open to the leading of the Holy Spirit in the minutia of each day and see where that leads.

Jude 1: 24-25
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

– Carolanne M. Brown
Assistant Provost for Accreditation, Assessment and Research
Palm Beach Atlantic University