Holiday Tidings

Christmas season is here!! It rarely feels like the holidays to me until Thanksgiving Day, regardless of the sparkle and fa-la-las everywhere you turn. Yesterday, 21 of us gathered around our kitchen for the feast. Smoked turkey, mashed potatoes that WILL change your life, fresh cranberry sauce, candied yams, green beans, pumpkin pie and trifle, apple pie and sparkling cider. Throw in some football, comedy, and the Bowl Game and that was a glorious Thanksgiving Day!

Embarrassments: The carrots I made were too hard to spear with a fork and almost too hard to cut with a knife (we used plastic cutlery...nice plastic cutlery...there were 21 of us!) But the glaze tasted good and everything else fully satisfied the little taste buds. After dinner we played games in front of the fire and then shared moments and people we were thankful for. Something has changed in my old age: I never -- I repeat, never -- would be caught crying in public in high school or even college. Last night, I said four words about my touching moment and that was all I could get out through my tears and the pesky lump in my throat. Please. I wanted to crawl under my chair.

The Lord is truly good, but it sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of striving after what we need or want, and it's so refreshing to take a day to reflect on His faithfulness and provision. He is and will always be the Potter, the Shepherd, and the Rock.

Just about everyone at our house under age 30 left at about 10pm to drive to the Castle Rock Outlets. I do confess to shopping at the first opportunity on Black Friday, but I had specific things in mind and brought cash. The place was a zoo. And a hoax. My brother was in a certain clothing store just a couple weeks ago looking at a $50 peacoat. Deciding to wait until it went on sale, he looked at the same peacoat last night, this time marked at an original price of $100, but on sale for 50% off. Creepy? Wrong? Ignorance is bliss?

I will close by wishing you a Merry Christmas season, and hearts filled with gratitude for the daily gifts we receive and the abundant life we have now and forever.