Christmas

It's about the cold, crisp air and an endless array of particularly shiny stars...it's the twinkling of lights and the smell of gingerbread...the feel of a warm mug of cocoa in your hands and the firelight reflecting on the faces of those you love...the sound of sacred notes ringing out the Carol of the Bells...the scent of Scotch-tape and the crackle of colorful paper being wrapped around gifts...the anticipation of watching your family and friends discover the present you picked out...the movies aimed directly at warming your heart...the cards that share sentiments not expressed enough throughout the year...it's the kind words and actions...it's children writing notes to Santa and leaving out a plate of cookies...it's Charlie Brown...it's ornaments and laughter...it's a tree covered with memories and children tingling with the mystery of it all...it's time earmarked for loving others.

But most of all, and most importantly - it's about a night that bridged the earth to Heaven. It's about a loving King seeing his people in need and deciding to take action. He wrapped himself up in the form of an innocent, vulnerable baby and entered our realm to live among us...so this most sacred of days is about a love - the love of Christ - that transcends our imagination and sacrifices everything just to win our hearts.

Thanks, Jesus, for the gift of You.

Merry Christmas.

Close Encounter

So my lunch was going well. Grabbed some chicken tenders and the remaining presents I needed. I was driving back to work when I ended up in a turning lane that I didn't need to be in. At the same moment a police car let me back into traffic, I realized that I did not have my seat belt on. So I'm sitting stiffly against my seat, going 'crapcrapcrapcrapcrap'. But I've NEVER been pulled over before, so I was just praying that God would forgive both my bad driving and seat beltlessness and let my clean record continue. But then he followed me into the next lane, onto the next road, and on my following turn. I was praying that it was a coincidence, praying with all my might, and then....
Blue lights.
Me, the girl with the out of date license and no seat belt on - oh. No. No, no, no, no.
So he gets out and mentions the turning lane incident, and then says - "but I pulled you over because your registration has expired. Can I see your license and registration?"
Me - meekly and shaking - "Yes, sir."
I hand him my license and take out the massive amount of car info from the glove compartment, hoping to find something clearly marked registration because I haven't the slightest idea what I'm looking for.
He stands there patiently and finally I say, "I'm so sorry to be such a girl. Can you tell me what it looks like?"
"It's a blue card."
"Oh." There is no blue card to be found and I just start to panic, saying all those wifely "I'm sorry, my husband usually takes care of this stuff' excuses.
"Is this your car, miss?" (As he looks into the backseat and I'm thinking, why didn't I clean out the backseat?)
"Yes, sir."
"When did you get the car?"
"Last October."
He goes to check my license, as it's so painfully obvious that I don't have that registration card.
And I'm thinking, I am in deep, mirelike, maggot infested crap. Because my maiden name is still on that card, along with my parent's address...and I've been married for three years, the car's registered as my new name, and I've had a million different addresses since I moved out. And WHERE IS THAT STUPID BLUE CARD?????
He comes back and I'm waiting for my fate, about to throw up on my steering wheel.
"Okay," he says, "You need to get your husband or whoever takes care of this to do it. Alright?" He uses this voice that clearly communicates that he is second guessing his decision to not give me twenty tickets.
Oh, the angels sing Alleluia!
"Yes, sir. We'll take care of it right away. Thank you."
He nods and goes back to his car and I am very close to hyperventilating.
He follows me almost back to work, and I'm so nervous the entire time. But I managed to keep the car on the road and escaped jail.
This is my Christmas miracle. Thank you, nice officer and nice God.