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The first two pics are a collage of pics from Christmas Eve and Christmas morning titled Reflections of Joy

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Merry Christmas to All!

We leave in the morning to head to San Antonio. We will meet Bob Summers (a very close 'father-figure' friend) in Marble Falls for lunch then on to see the grandkids!! Well, and to see our ds and dil too! We had a sweet time celebrating Christmas with our 'Denton grandkids' - Kaytlyn and Riley (and Darren and Teri)-last night. I think I've recovered from my 'all night scrapping' time Tues. night with Teri and Rhonda so now I'm good to go!! I hope that all of our family and friends will find time to celebrate Jesus' birthday and in that celebration will find the love, joy and peace that He makes available to everyone! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Love you!

Counting Our Blessings

This has been an unusual and at times difficult month for our family. Clint lost his job December 1. It's not the first time that he has been without a job, but it is the first time that he has been let go from his job. His company has moved his job to the home office in Florida and there was nothing for him in the Dallas office. So he is currently unemployed. My brother just had all of his teeth pulled and is being fitted with permanent dentures. It was a traumatic experience for him but we're praying that in the end, he will be much healthier and happier! Then we found out this week that my 'mountain climbing' sister-in-law fell in her garage on the way to church and broke her leg! She had surgery last week to have a steel plate and multiple pins put in, and will be fitted this week with a walking cast. These are hard things for those in their 50's or for Clint who has just turned 60. So how does one handle all of this? The Bible tells us to 'Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you form all sides.' James 1:2. One thing that helps me to do this is to count my blessings, so here goes!
1) My health
2) My sweet, godly husband
3) 2 children (and their spouses) who seek to do God's will in their lives
4) 3 precious grandchildren who are only 5 hours away
5) friends who encourage and uplift me
6) a new church home and a new ministry there
7) 14 young women in my BSF group who love to study God's Word God
8) a beautiful home that is PAID for!!
9) a car that runs!
10) a hobby that brings me great joy and satisfaction
11) friends to share my hobby with
12) TiVO
13) the freedom to worship as I choose

I'll add more later!! It's late and I'm really tired! So lastly
14) a comfortable bed to sleep in!!

Christmas Thoughts

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love winter and the various types of weather that it brings here in Texas. It may be in the 60's one day and snowing the next! You gotta love Texas weather. LOL! I especially love it when the weather is so bad that we HAVE to stay home with a fire burning in the fireplace! I love the clear, blue skies of winter. I love to watch the birds and squirrels as they frequent our feeders, looking for a free meal. I love the lights and decorations that people put out at Christmas. When our daughter, Tori, lived in Dallas, we participated in the Jingle Bell Run a couple of years. It was a 5k run through downtown Dallas at night in early December. People would come dressed up like santas, reindeer, wreaths, anything Christmas!! They'd bring their dogs all dressed up. Some would have baby strollers strung with lights. People of all ages participated. Families did it together. The store windows were all decorated and lit up. Everyone had on bells, so you could hear the runners (walkers in my case!) coming before you could see them. I loved the festive spirit of that event. But in all of this, it is so important to remember that Jesus is the reason for this season in the first place. It is His birth that we celebrate. Yes, we have embraced many traditions to accompany that celebration, but that is where our focus should always be. And I pray that mine is there too. I try to do all of my shopping throughout the year, and be finished before Thanksgiving so that I can really enjoy the month of December. The gifts are an important part of our celebration because God gave us the greatest gift of all. He did this because of His love for us, so we give gifts to others to show our love for them as well. But when it becomes another thing on our 'To Do' list to get out of the way, then it has lost it's meaning. So as I reflect on my favorite time of year, my thoughts always go to 'family'. For us right now, there is a bit of sadness since our family cannot all be together at Christmas. Our daughter and her husband are in Oxford, England as he pursues his education. They are not able to be with us so our family circle is not complete. But we focus on God's sweet blessings and do everything we can to make that distance seem a little less! Last Christmas we called them, put the phone on 'speaker' and set it on the coffe table as we opened gifts! LOL! Not sure how much they were able to really hear what was going on, but at least we felt like they were a part of what we as a family were doing!
My prayer for you is that your Christmas will be filled with many sweet memories as well. God is the giver of all good gifts!