Merry Christmas!

Just a few days left until Christmas!

This is a great time for me to take a moment and think of all the things that have happened over the past year and all of the things I am grateful for.

Right, we just did that at Thanksgiving. I like to do it again around Christmas.

For me, Thanksgiving day's emphasis is more about the things I am grateful for like freedom, opportunity, family, friends, home and belongings. All the "stuff" of life that makes life worth it in this world.

In the Christmas season my focus is more on the spiritual things, like the Bible, music, prayer, Christian fellowship, Jesus Christ my savior, the history and writings of the church. That last part deserves a comment. Some of the history and the writings can definitely raise an eyebrow.

That is okay. It is a testament that the writers and actors were both human and honest about things said and done. They were just like us; full of good and bad. No point in trying to hide it. Deep down we are all a bunch of stinkers!

But, that is the very reason God sent His Son into this world to redeem us. Even though we are capable of some pretty horrible things on our own, God decided not to leave us on our own. He enters the world, just as He enters a life, to make changes, even if not all at once.

I am grateful that He didn't pass me over and that He has a plan for my reclamation, and that even though the changes don't all come as quickly as I'd like, He is not leaving me the way He found me.

So, as one stinker to another, Merry Christmas! And, "God bless us, every one."