Yeah, it's been a bit. I have 4 kids. Jerry Seinfeld says having 3 or more kids is like running the blender with the top off. Quite insightful.
1. Tarah and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this last week. We have a 1 month old newborn at home that needs to be nursed every 1 1/2 hours. So we couldn't do much to celebrate. However, what we did was meaningful. Tarah arranged a babysitter to come over while we went to a neighbor's house (that was gone on vacation) and she made me dinner over there. She did get the neighbor's permission, in case you wondered. It was great. I had made her a memorabia book that symbolically covered our last decade together. She cried. You know when you've done good, as a man, when your wife cries. Actually, going through all of the pictures and letters that I had written her while we were dating, I have to admit, it was quite an emotional time for me as well. In the last 10 years we have had 4 kids. As we ate and looked at the book, it didn't take us long to miss these little gems called our kids and soon we were back home again. We sent the sitter away and enjoyed a relaxing evening sitting in the living room next to the Christmas tree while the kids played and got in and out of our laps periodically. It was a sweet time. My wife is amazing. Guys, there is something in God's satchel of Grace that allows these women to love us ugly mugs. We all need to pat our cursed midsections and be thankful.
2. It's Christmas time and you have probably gotten wind of this supposedely "War on Christmas" that's been going on in our Country. I, myself, have tried to keep up to date with it by watching Bill O'Reilly's video clips on the internet. I haven't watched much of him in the past since we don't have Fox news, however, I find his manner interesting. Aside from that, this whole Christmas debacle has perplexed me. Before I extrpolate, let me give a war update by stating that there have been some victories lately for Christmas with examples of stores now saying "Merry Christmas" that weren't and "Holiday Trees" now being called "Christmas Trees" in the public square and so on. The perplexing part of all of this is that even the people fighting for Christmas probably have no clue what it really is all about. If we are talking about Christmas trees and mistletoe and all of that jazz, we need to state that these have nothing to do with the Christ Child in the least. In fact, they originate with pagan rituals. These along with, the date of Christmas, wreaths, lights, etc...... They are connected with the Winter Solstice and the Catholic church adopted the date along with the traditions of the Solstice and turned it into a date that celebrates Christ's birth. Now, I don't have anything wrong with the whole" what man meant for evil, God can use for good." philosophy. (Attn to a previous post about Halloween) However, I think that people need to realize that traditions and holidays are not sacred in themselves. And, also, that these things that we do on or around December 25th cannot and does not change a human heart. I am not against tradition or holidays but the warm feeling that comes from putting lights up on the house, setting up the tree, wrapping the presents and sipping eggnog, can do nothing for the eternal nature of a person. Only the Christ-child can. So if we are trying to fight for Christmas, let's fight for the freedom of celebrating the one person that can do major good for the human soul. It's not the tree or the date. It's the child. I know that child and He has and is changning my heart because I need it. I need a Savior.
Have a Great Christmas everybody.
