As usual, some people will not be here with me to share the Christmas season again.  I think of two of my nephews, one that died last year and one in March of this year as well as the deaths of a few others that seemed to have left us prematurely.

I miss them all and have some great memories  that are recorded permanently inside me.  I pray for the families of all of these and ask God to be extra close to them.

I also am thankful for the blessings that God has bestowed on me and my immediate family members. 

I have three grandboys that I am looking forward to seeing and sharing some of the excitement with in the next couple of weeks.  Also, my son and daughter will be with us and that should make things nicer.

I do plan on watching Christmas movies especially Scrooge with Albert Finney and Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart and hopefully I will see a few other new ones on tv.

There have been many ups and downs over the past 12 months not so unlike what I've known for most of my life.

I still miss greatly some of those family members such as mom and dad, two sisters, and a brother.  Also, a favorite boss that died at age 36 in 1991, I shall take pause to think of him.

I am sure that most people who read this can identify with the contents pinned here.

There are five things that I would like to leave you with as we near the beginning of this happy time known as Christmas.

1)  Drink in the moment and allow yourself to get in touch with what Christmas has meant to you in the past.

2)  Pick out at least one person outside your family and do something special for them.

3) Visit family members individually and spend you quality time with them.

4) Attend a church Christmas program or a candle light service.

5) Ask Jesus into your heart if you haven't already and thank him for allowing you to be here another year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.