Merry Christmas!

The big day has finally rolled around. I know you agree with me that it comes quicker each year, doesn't it? All of the preparations are made, and Christians all around the world are settling in to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Every family has their own traditions. Some will open packages on Christmas Eve, some will wait until morning. When I was a child our family always exchanged our gifts on Christmas Eve and waited eagerly to see what Santa might have brought by morning. Many families gather at one place on Christmas Eve and another on Christmas Day, to cover all the bases. We will all probably eat too much.

Circumstances have changed over the years, and many of our loved ones are now gone. Some of our family live far away and we rarely get to see them at Christmas time. So the traditions have evolved and sometimes still change from year to year. Knowing that often times circumstances can be beyond our control, and learning over these past three years that life is short and precious has taught me a few lessons.

First, be patient. My family can testify to the fact that patience was a quality that was sadly lacking in my life over the years. I let pressure build up. Schedules ruled, and when things didn't go according to schedule, I often erupted with frustration. Having an "incurable" disease has changed much of that. Now, I'm not "there" yet when it comes to perfect patience, but I have learned two things in this category.
1. Don't sweat the small stuff
2. It's mostly ALL small stuff!

The lessons on patience bring you to a place of willingness to adapt. If it were written in Latin, the term would probably be, "Semper Gumby" or "always flexible". We're learning this the hard way. Just a few years back, in my mind our family HAD to celebrate Christmas with a certain traditional routine. Deaths and marriages and geographical distances between us have caused us to adapt in a number of ways.

This year, only part of our family will be together here. Jay and his tribe will be celebrating in New Orleans. They have not been able to be home for Christmas since 2003 (when Linda's mother passed away). Little Canon has never had a Christmas back here with us. We miss them very much, but are comforted in knowing that Jay's ministry has called him to the place where God wants him to serve, and it is hard for a pastor to get away for very long at all.

Benji's high school basketball team had and early practice this morning, and he and Leigh Anne and their boys will spend most of the middle part of the day as Leigh Anne's mother's side of the family (the Craces) get together for an annual celebration. They will come from there to join us here at the house tonight as our local family gets together to exchange presents. Tomorrow they will celebrate with her folks as the Clanton family comes together at Lance and Linda's house.

Westmoreland Baptist will have it's annual Candlelight Communion Service tonight at 6:00 PM. Mom and Dad will come to our house for dinner just before the evening service. After the brief church service, we will come back to our house where we will be met by Benji and family. Linda's dad and his friend, Mary Ann will also join us as we celebrate Christmas together tonight.

Years ago, Dad started a tradition that we still follow before we exchange and open our gifts. Each year someone reads the Christmas story from Luke 2 to remind us of what Christmas is, and how God has given us the wonderful gift of our Savior, Jesus. The privilege of reading the text goes to a different family member each year. This year, our second grandson, Will, will do the honors. His seventh birthday is coming up in only eight days, and I wasn't sure if he could read well enough yet to get through it, but Linda listened to him read it from the Holman Christian Standard Translation a few days ago, and he did a great job! So tonight, he'll get his first opportunity to carry on the tradition.

We're starting something new this year, as well. Linda has baked a big birthday cake to celebrate Jesus' birth. Before we read the scripture and then open gifts, we are all going to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and enjoy the cake that has been prepared to remind us of the importance of His birth! The little boys need to be reminded of this, as do the rest of us. I hope this will be an ongoing tradition for the future.

Late tomorrow morning, Christmas day, I will take Linda to the airport for her flight to New Orleans. Her flight leaves at 1:00 PM. She'll be able to spend the evening of Christmas and the next couple of days with Jay, Michelle, and the Louisiana grandsons - an opportunity she is really looking forward to. I'll probably stop by my brother, Bruce's house and have Christmas dinner with He and Sandi and mom and dad, and Sandi's family. Then most likely I'll spend the next couple of days working at the church, cleaning up around the house, and probably going to a couple of Russell High School basketball games at the Ashland Invitational Tournament, while getting things together to pack for my upcoming mission trip to the Philippines in about nine days.

Life is good!

I am thankful that God has spared my life for a Christmas that I wasn't supposed to have seen. He has blessed us all so much. This Christmas, I am looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior, like never before.

Jesus told us that He came "that we might have life and have it more abundantly". With that in mind, Linda and I would like to wish all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas, and an ABUNDANT New Year.

God Bless...