Christmas Present

It is a delight to have the kids home again. It's hard to imagine a Christmas without them. Even mostly grown up kids still get excited when the presents pile up around the tree...and especially when it's time to open them up! My parents will be flying in later today, and we're looking forward to spending a few days with them as well.

Merry Christmas to everyone who read this. Have a great day, and hug the people you love. God bless us, everyone.

Christmas Past

I am grateful for family traditions, especially at Christmas. Every year when I was growing up, we opened our presents Christmas morning. But first we would eat breakfast. Then we all would quote the Christmas story from Luke 2 from memory. Now when you're nine and the only thing standing between you and your presents is twenty verses from the Gospel of Luke, you can talk pretty fast. Mom kept an open Bible handy in case we got stuck, which for me was the part right around the end of the angels and the shepherds.

It was a way for us to establish priorities at a time of year when far too many people lose sight of what matters. The commercialization of Christmas almost makes me wish for the Puritan days when anyone celebrating the holiday was fined five shillings. Almost...but not quite. Because it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

I'm going to enjoy opening the packages I've been shaking. I'll enjoy even more watching Brenda and the kids open theirs. But that's not Christmas. Christmas is the birth of a baby who, though human, was also God made flesh to die for the sins of the world. I'm thankful for a family that taught me that lesson early. And I'm grateful that we've shared that faith with our children. And tomorrow, we'll be quoting Luke 2 before we open our presents. My wife will have a Bible handy, because I still tend to get stuck around verse 17. And we will celebrate, not primarily a season of giving, peace, or joy, but of God's salvation.

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:20&21

Everybody's a Comedian

Now ESPN's Page 2 columnist Gregg Easterbrook (who's supposed to be covering the NFL mind you) gets in on the act by posting this picture from the Rankin-Bass Christmas classic Rudolph with this caption: He just turned down the Alabama job, too.


OUCH!

Christmas Carols from the Pscyh Department

Got these in an email from my daughter:

Christmas Carols for the Psychiatric Patient

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....

6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an OpenFire

8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle, Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, JingleBells ....

Only in America

We got a subscription offer from Time magazine in the mail today. I have less than zero interest in a newsmagazine. In the Internet age, it's out of date before it ever leaves the press. However this is worth noting. (Thanks for catching it Babe!)

If you subscribe, you get a free gift. It's an Ultronic MF7 Clock Radio. Get this: it's got an alarm clock...and a remote control! Can we get any lazier? I mean if you can't be bothered with the snooze button...Ouch.

Turned Down Again

The Bama coaching search continues tonight, after Rich Rodriguez chose to stay at West Virginia instead of accepting the job offer that would have more than doubled his salary.

If you haven't seen this shirt yet, it pretty much says it all. I don't know who did this or I'd give them credit. I saw it at Every Day Should Be Saturday. (Normally I link to places where I see great stuff, but the language there is more than I'm willing to direct people to unless they know what's coming.)

At this point, I don't know what to say except that the job search is being handled with exactly the same precision and finesse that marked our offense all season long!

Remember Pearl Harbor

65 years ago today, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Dad told me that (because of the time zone difference) he heard the news at church that Sunday night. Of course for our generation, the relevant comparison is 9/11. The initial reaction to such a horrific event is to think that it changes everything and will never be forgotten...but people aren't like that. We do forget. And we need reminders. Because just as then, we have enemies who are trying to kill us.

We won World War II...and we shouldn't forget that either. Or how it happened. It took clear-sighted leadership (from both parties) and commitment, from both people and leadership. We didn't win by looking for "exit strategies." (And we STILL have troops in Germany and Japan.) The courage and sacrifice of those who died at Pearl Harbor is still shown by our troops today...it's the leadership part I'm worried about. So amid the remembrances of Pearl Harbor, say a prayer for the men and women serving today. And for those who determine their missions. And for us.

Just Asking

So we were sending an email to the kids the other day (pictures of the snow to make them jealous--go figure, Ohio didn't; Oklahoma did!) and my wife asked a very pertinent and insightful question: Why do they call it a carbon copy???? Talk about a vestigial organ....

Toto, We're Not in Arizona Anymore

I don't have an elephant (or any corn for that matter) so I am poorly equipped to measure the reality of the opening song from Oklahoma! But I can tell you that on this beautiful morning, the snow is higher than a dachshund's eye...and the drifts are even worse than that. Officially Tulsa got 10 inches of snow yesterday, the largest November snowfall on record. It's been a long time since it snowed where we lived...and I'm enjoying it thoroughly.