Christmas 2005 Comes to a Close

The sun has set on Christmas 2005. It was a great day. We started the day bright and early (6 a.m. to be exact) and were excited to find a dusting of snow on this Christmas morning. Hooray- a white Christmas…well at least for a little while. Bekah was so excited as she climbed out of bed to see what “Santa” had brought for her. No, of course she doesn’t still believe, but it is fun to pretend anyway. Would you believe that she still insists on putting cookies out for Jolly Old Saint Nick? After we opened our gifts from each other, Santa, Grandma & Grandpa Harbison, and Lisa and Keith, we headed to church.

We were very excited to worship this morning with 279 of our brothers and sisters. We were shocked that so many were in attendance, and we were thankful. We were especially grateful to see the Christmas pirate and his family. They have been through so much this year. God is good. I felt a little something special as I sang with the Praise Team songs about the birth of our Lord. It was a beautiful service with beautiful music, beautiful prayers, and a beautiful message. I was blessed to be there.

Then it was off to my mom’s house for another round. It was good to be with Jen and Drew again…we’ve been missing them lately. It was also good to see my sister, and to see how she is doing these days. There were way too many presents, way too much food, and not nearly enough talk about the real meaning of Christmas. But overall it was good. It was sad, but good, to recall past Christmas’ at Grandma and PaPa’s house, and to reminisce about other Christmas memories. Several other family members came by, and it was good to see them.

As the day came to a close, I was happy to jump back in our car and head for home! (Oh, There’s no place like home for the holidays….) Now Bekah is dressed in her kimono (sent all the way from Japan) playing with her new MP3 player, and Jason is playing with one of his new “toys.” I am writing, and thinking about how thankful I am for another blessed Christmas.

God gave us a beautiful gift, and today, December 25, the world celebrates that gift. I pray that you had a joyous holiday and that your family was blessed and remembered the true meaning of Christmas. I just have one more thing to say before I fall over from sheer exhaustion: Merry Christmas to all…and to all a good night!