Saturday, December 26, 2009

Merry Christmas to you all!

How about all of that snow? It was so beautiful! Bruce was reading on Face Book from one of our friends that her young daughter came bursting into their room this morning and instead of saying “Santa came! Santa came!” She said, “Mommie, Daddy the snow is still on our yard!” White Christmas’s are so rare and beautiful that they even supersede Santa!

We went to Mom and Dad’s today for Christmas gathering. The food was delicious and we had such a wonderful time. The trip was a bit treacherous with ice on bridges and on some parts of the highway. We were a bit nervous about the road by Mom and Dad’s house as it is hilly and we were afraid it would be a solid sheet of ice. But it was not too bad and we arrived safely. I said prayers for each accident we passed and each time our tires went sideways instead of straight ahead. The most encouraging sign I saw today was that of all of the accidents we saw, there seemed to only be body damage to vehicles and no injuries to the people involved. Praise God!

Colossians 1:16 “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in Him and finds purpose in Him.”

Here we are on Christmas Day. Children are now sleeping and dreaming of their gifts received today and how they will play with them tomorrow. Parents are tired. We have played, cooked, talked, hugged and driven under the tension of ice and snow. But when we put all of that aside and we ponder Christmas day…that Christmas Day 2000 years ago was about a family. This family did not have an easy journey either. Mary rode a donkey at nine months pregnant. Joseph led that donkey and tried to find a warm place for this child to be born. But, alas God had different plans.

That brings me to this point. It is all about God. It was not about that lack of room in the local inn and the difficult journey. It was about God announcing His presence in the world through a choir of heavenly angels. The angels did not announce this birth to kings and kingdoms. The angels announced the birth of Jesus to a bunch of shepherds. It was about God being born into a family. From the beginning, it was always about God. Mary and Joseph had to learn to live for God through this child and not for themselves. They knew their purpose was one of an extremely high calling. They knew that their purpose to raise this child was far greater than any personal fulfillment they might achieve.

Our purpose in life is to live for God. This is the greatest calling in our lives. As we begin to put away the Christmas trappings of tree, ornaments and leftovers, let us begin to look to the new calendar year that is rapidly approaching. Let us begin by remembering that it is all about God and as we make decisions that we consult the One who gave us free will in the first place and how much He loves us.

Take comfort and joy in the journey and wear comfortable shoes. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

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