Despite years in church and Sunday school, God was more a distant relative I wished I knew. I grew up with a gnawing sense of incompleteness, and longed to find meaning and purpose in life. Strangely, it was shortly before Christmas years later that it found me.

That’s probably why I’m writing this. The tendency to revert to this frenzied pace by mid-December is still a challenge. I need to be reminded of the quiet simplicity of this season, so I can hear the age-old message once again.

Pearls to me, symbolize this “Life Beautiful” that you have achieved, Carolyn. Each pearl is a result of a great hurt to the oyster’s life. But the little mollusk builds an iridescent coat around this source of hurt, and as a result, the precious pearl comes into being. Life is like that too.

Welcome back! I hope you are enjoying Miss Mouthy! If so, tell your friends.I just got word of this cool new feature from Claire’s. Fantastic idea for teens, but this would also be great for an inexpensive office gift exchange. Check it out:

CLAIRE’S CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAYS WITH NEW SECRET SANTA CIRCLE
Teen Fashion Leader Launches Interactive [...]

For dressy occasions, she wore other nice jewelry, but never the pearls. The pearls were too precious to wear. What if the strand broke and even a single pearl was lost? What if the clasp broke and she lost them forever? She couldn’t risk it. Better to keep them cocooned in silky security.