Here We Are...

Well, Christmas is just passed.... And if you believe that, then you missed the meaning of Christmas! People say, "Christmas is over". Meaning that the day of Christmas is now done and gone. But, the spirit of Christmas, Oh now, that's a whole nuther story! We work and stress getting all prepared for the big day. Cooking, cleaning, buying gifts. Basically acting and going berserk. It is quite comical to watch if you can step outside the "action" for a few minutes. Now you/we can relax can't we? That is unless you ran up huge credit card debt buying meaningless and mostly useless gifts for your loved ones. Mostly all your loved ones would really like for Christmas is some of your time. Time with them. Time eating and laughing, time reminiscing. Time playing a game together or going to a movie or to a Starbucks. For most though, we get caught up in the buying frenzy. Hey, I'm guilty of that as well.
Christmas eve, after performing "A King Is Coming." We enjoyed sharing Christmas time with our friends Dale and Jean McDowell and their children Scott and Jeni.

Scott's girlfriend Millea was there as well. Chicken pasta, salad, cookies, turkey soup were the menu. Our family and the McDowells have been sharing Christmas eve for about 20 years or so... we exchange gifts, eat great food but more importantly, just spend time together, laughing and sharing, being...
I performed some magic for Millia as she has not seen any of my magic, and she was a fresh victim for me. She was a great audience.

We had my wife's family over for Christmas day and dinner. Our nephews are both engaged to be married this coming year! So they had their fiance's with them. We enjoyed the company of family and warm fires (a little too warm)and my wife and her mother had a race with their walkers! Haha... Chariot races you might say!

I did not hear from anyone from my side of the family. Merry Christmas to me. That hurts. However, I did not call them either. Merry Christmas! I did repair a golf club for my brother Ted and drop it by his home with a few notes in it explaining what happened from my point of view. That was last week. Never heard from him nor do I know if he even received the package.
Our church finally performed the play, "A King Is Coming".

I actually think the extra week hurt us. Not performing last week when everyone was geared up for it was kind of a let down. Like air escaping a big air filled to the max balloon. There were a couple of really noticeable faux pas during the performance. But all in all, it was fun and I think the audience enjoyed the performance. Sometimes the "mess ups" can add to the performance. I think this might be one of those times. People realize we are not professional actors and are there for their entertainment pleasure.
I saw lots of laughter and many smiles while up on stage gazing out at the audience. I hope the message was clear and that God can use our worship celebration to further his kingdom!

Son Ryan had car trouble last week. It was determined that he needed a new alternator.He took his vehicle into the shop and had the work done. Next day he still had the same trouble. He was without his "ride" for several days as the Christmas Holiday closed shops. Yesterday I drove him to Seattle, we charged his battery and drove it back into the shop. Ryan and I enjoyed each others company on the road and had lunch together at a sandwich shop. We walked to half price books and killed some time there. Both of us picked up a few books. Why am I saying all this? Through the inconvenience of Ryan being without his car. A real bummer of a time during the Christmas "season." We had an opportunity to spend time together that we would not have had otherwise. Time spent talking about his future, my plans for the future. Marriage and many other topics. Sometimes we get so angry about our circumstances, or put off by the bad things that happen to us, we fail to see the opportunity that these things often bring our way. I know I was blessed by Ryan's unfortunate car troubles! So was he I think!