Due to this season's unusually warm weather (84 degrees one day last week), I thought this picture was appropriate. This is a set of old snowmobiles we used to play on in my grandparent's back yard. I don't really know where these came from, but they sure were fun to sit on and pretend like we were flying down a mountain in the snow.

Current fav: The Afters, Light Up the Sky

When I’m feeling all alone and so far to go
The signs are nowhere on this road guiding me home
When the night is closing in
It’s falling on my skin
Oh God will You come close

Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me
I, I, I can’t deny
Oh I can’t deny that You are right here with me
You’ve opened my eyes so I can see You all around me
Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me

When stars are hiding in the clouds
I don’t feel them shining
When I can’t see beyond my doubt
The silver lining
When I’ve almost reached the end
Like a flood You’re rushing in
Love is rushing in

Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me
I, I, I can’t deny
Oh I can’t deny that You are right here with me
You’ve opened my eyes so I can see You all around me
Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me

So I run straight to Your arms
You’re the bright and morning Sun
To show Your love, there’s nothing You won’t do

Light, light, light up the sky
You light up the sky to show me You are with me
I, I, I can’t deny
Oh I can’t deny that You are right here with me
You’ve opened my eyes so I can see You all around me
Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me

Merry Christmas! If you know me, you know I don't just get super pumped about Christmas music. In fact, I could probably list on one hand the number of tunes I actually enjoy listening to. This is one of those that I love, although I don't really classify it as 'a Christmas song'. Nonetheless, I am still amazed, and learning to be more amazed, that our God would reach out to us through a tiny baby in the middle of a not-so-silent night. Today, I hope you will stop and marvel for just a moment in the mystery that He is here with us.

Here With Us, by Joy Williams

It's still a mystery to me
That the hands of God could be so small,
How tiny fingers reaching in the night
Were the very hands that measured the sky

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Heaven's love reaching down to save the world
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Son of God, Servant King,
You're here with us
You're here with us

It's still a mystery to me, oh,
How His infant eyes have seen the dawn of time
How His ears have heard an angel's symphony,
But still Mary had to rock her Savior to sleep

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Heaven's love reaching down to save the world
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Son of God, Servant King
Here with us
You're here with us

Jesus the Christ, born in Bethlehem
A baby born to save, to save the souls of man

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Heaven's love reaching down to save the world
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Son of God, Servant King
You're here with us
You're here with us

So I have to share a Christmas card I received from some sweet friends this year. I LOVE the message of this card and can't say that I've ever seen one like it. Click to enlarge and read...

I'm headed out in the morning for Canyon, so I thought I'd go ahead and post early...

I can't say that I remember Christmas gifts very well. If you asked me to name as many Christmas presents as I could think of that I've received over the years, I probably would only be able to come up with a handful. Those just aren't the kind of details I remember well. But I do recall Christmas moments over the years. There were the early, early years when the Christmas tree was set-up on the stairs in our humble little abode, the Christmas party we hosted every year as youngsters for all our cousins and friends, the traditions of decorating the tree (a real one) as soon as Mom got the thumbprint cookies iced, caroling with the youth group, gingerbread cookies with M, sausage balls and orange juice every Christmas morning, the 25-day countdown calendar with a little surprise each morning, the ridiculous notion I had in junior high/high school that I needed to be fully dressed with my hair done before we could open packages Christmas morning, the year we got a wild crazy hair and drove to a little cabin in Oklahoma for holiday time, a trip to Ruidoso armed with sleds, Christmas Eve wrapping parties, and the list goes on.

I have to say, I like that Christmas is about moments to me. I like that I grew up in a home that celebrated the season and the joy of giving above getting. Christmas has changed for our family over the years, as it always does when kids grow up and move away. And this year, we find it changing yet again. But I like to think that those 'moments' will always happen. They will shift and evolve as life happens, but they will be no less special. And they will be even more special to me this year as I think about so many who don't get to share moments with those they love.

Be blessed this weekend.

And maybe, just maybe you will find fireman hats and matching red tricycles underneath your tree. If you were extra good this year, perhaps there will also be a package with your name on it that holds Rainbow Brite and Twink. :)

... and it was 84 degrees outside today. That is one of the few reasons why I love Dallas. Still, it is Christmas, so it ought to feel like it. Guess I better head north for that.

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Last Saturday, I joined 800 runners in a 15K/5K race out at White Rock. The Jog’r Egg Nog’r was a fantastic little run, full of crazy Christmas costumes and lots of holiday cheer. My latest running motto? "If you can’t excel with talent, triumph with effort." –Dave Weinbaum

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The girls and I went for a little outing on Sunday night to the Deerfield neighborhood up in Plano, where they boast streets and streets of houses all decked out in lights and decor. When the neighborhood was first built, the homeowners were offered a $5,000 prize for the house that was best decorated, and thus begun an annual tradition for the Deerfield residents. The neatest house we saw is one that is nationally known for having over 100,000 lights on it, set to music. It was pretty much amazing. Who knew that lights could 'keep a beat' to the Black Eyed Peas?!




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Finally, 5 days before Christmas, our (Amber's) mini tree went up... on the dining room table!



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And for your viewing pleasure, this is a pretty great video of the Digital Story of the Nativity.

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"... and they will call him Immanuel” (which means 'God with us').