Merry Christmas!

My sincere wishes for a beautiful, blessed Christmas for each of you—family, friends, and customers.

Would you like to take a look at some of the Christmas goings-on here?

Ben does not seem to understand he is dressed as Santa and therefore expected to bring the gifts—no, he’d rather wait beside the tree for the fat man in a red suit (is it even allowable to say that anymore these days? I know Santa isn’t at all what Christmas is about, but people get riled over the silliest thing these days).

I did eventually get a smile out of Ben.

The home and of course the tree are decked out with numerous sparkling and brightly coloured ornaments. After Grandpa Shorty’s passing last year, the family chose from amongst the many holiday decorations and ornaments he & my grandmother had collected over the years. Now all of our trees boast of my grandparents’ ornaments—I got a little teary putting them up on the tree, but cannot tell you how truly filled with happiness it makes me to have all of these well-remembered ornaments bringing back memories of Christmases past.

I was very blessed in that my family was happy to let me bring home several of the Christmas ornaments I remembered with such clarity and affection.

Of course, I also have my most prized Christmas ornament of all—the one my grandparents bought for me before I was even born. On the back, my grandfather had written the year and “Baby To Be—Love Grandpa & Grandma”. You can understand why it is so meaningful to me!

Of course, I must share with you Ben’s delightful enthusiasm regarding the wrapping of gifts:

Dour Scotsman of a collie that he is, even Christmas seems to be an uncertain time for our Benedict.

The feline side of the family was a bit leery about joining in on the activities. Lucy was quite happy to watch everything going on from a spot where she could keep an eye on the fireplace and the tree…

…but attempting to be-hat her with an elf hat exactly work out.

Buckley, being the wisest cat in all the world, found the joyous proceedings beneath his dignity, refusing to be photographed and, in fact, hiding upstairs. But when he curled up on the club chair beside a stuffed Rudolph, I rushed to snap a photo of him—and made sure the intent was clear with another intentionally bad edit.

I do so love the cheery decorations around the house and on the tree. Midwestern winters can be extremely dark and grey, so the bright colours of Christmas are very much appreciated.

In order to get maximum enjoyment of the beauty (and labor!) of Christmas, I take full advantage of the season, leaving everything up ’til Twelfth Night. Why not?

Happily, Ben needn’t wear his hat throughout the season. (Happily for Ben, that is. I think he looks quite cute in his Christmas duds.)

Again, I am wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas, with all of the true and eternal love and light that the season brings, all because of the birth of a seemingly insignificant baby to a seemingly insignificant carpenter and his wife in Bethlehem so many centuries ago. Because of that child, His death, and His resurrection, a mankind separated from God found again a bridge to His love and eternal life, through no goodness of our own but because of pure love and grace we do not deserve. How very loved we are, that He would do this thing for us!

I would like to ask that as you celebrate today, you take a few moments to think about the men and women in uniform serving our countries both at home and overseas—especially overseas. They are kept apart from their loved ones during this marvellous and special time of year, separated for our sake. So please say a prayer for them and those they love, that they do not feel alone this Christmas and are perhaps even able to speak to family and friends this beautiful day.

Thanks for a fine 2013, and God bless!