Busy Day

I won't be writing much today. We are busy getting ready for Christmas. I'm sure no one will read this post because everyone else is busy too. We are making food, wrapping the rest of the presents and cleaning up the house. We will get most everything done today so that we can have some R&R for the rest of the time off.

Merry Christmas!

True Christmas Spirit

I had a great experience last night that stuck out in my mind today. I was with a group that went Christmas caroling last night. In between houses as we were walking I was asking a few of the kids what they had asked for for Christmas. One little girl told me that she hadn't asked for anything. She explained to me that the presents aren't what Christmas is really about. I am not quoting her exactly but her message was clear. She said that she didn't understand where the big idea of presents came from. Christmas is really about Jesus being born. I told her that I thought our tradition of giving gifts came from the wise men giving gifts to the baby Jesus when they first visited Him. She was aware of the fact that they had given him gifts. We didn't talk much more about it but I was really impressed with what she had said. This is a good message for all of us. Have fun but at the same time keep things in perspective and don't loose sight of real purpose for celebrating Christmas.

Christmas is close

Time is short now before Christmas! Better get busy or it will be here before you're done with all of the things left to do. It seems that we always get so busy that we can't enjoy the time around the holiday. We don't remember what it is really about. What would we do if we had a year with no presents, not tree, no lights. Would we realize that it's OK and that the real reason for Christmas has nothing to do with those things anyway or would we complain and whine about all that we didn't get. I suppose everyone would react differently but it would be a good test. Lets all be glad that we can celebrate Christmas the way we do regardless of what we may or may not get or have.

Reflection

Yesterday was a tough day for my little town. I mentioned in an earlier post that we lost a freind last week to a terrible automobile accident. Yesterday was the funeral service for Steve. I had been asked to sing at the service and this makes it even that much tougher. You feel more drawn in and the meaning seems to be even greater when you are personally involved. Everything went well and the turnout was overwhelming. There was a portion of the service that was designated for people to stand and speak about things they remembered or stories that stuck in their minds about Steve. It was very inspiring. The one that really meant the most to me came from a coworker of Steve's. Steve was in the national guard and he was called to serve a few years ago. She said the she and Steve had talked a lot about our country and she was struck by the amount of love Steve had for this country. She said that when he was asked to serve she felt safe knowing that Steve was going to be protecting the country. This tells a lot about how he affected people. We also know that Steve is helping others even though he is not here with us anymore. He was an organ donor and recipients were found for his heart, liver and both kidneys. What a gift he gave those who have received a chance to live on because of him. His faith was strong and this gives comfort to all. He is in a better place now and waiting for his family to join him there in due time. I was honored to know him and he will be missed.