Twas the week before Christmas...

I’m sorry, did somebody say ‘last week is over’? But I’m not ready yet!

That means Christmas is coming soon! Not yet, we don’t have snow! You can’t have Christmas without snow! Can you? Well, in Western Nebraska, apparently if you have biting cold weather and a whipping wind, then you can have Christmas. With that in mind, I guess we’re more than ready!

Needless to say, this week has been cold. The weather channel has varied it’s adjectives by saying, “Very chilly”; “Extremely Cold”; “winds in excess of…”; “very bitter”; “dangerously cold” and the like. At least they are creative. Wind chills tonight will approach -30 degrees. That’s unimaginable, but what’s even stranger to me is that, in a matter of 24 hours, we can have a 40 degree swing and the sun will be shining. By Thursday, it’s supposed to be bright and 42! What’s up with that?

Per usual, our week before Christmas was somewhat cramped with time. Somebody had something every night this week, and sometimes more than one thing. Poor Lars just went along for the ride…over and over and over. He looks like a snow creature in his bulky coat and hat. Cute, but annoying.

In the rush of the week, I completely forgot Eden’s Christmas Party at daycare on Friday…oops. We had the Austin’s over for supper that night, in a delayed thank you and also to sit and visit over fine wine. The kids played darts downstairs and watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas Special.

Eden is practicing hard for her Christmas program tonight…she is an angel and has had her line memorized for weeks, but she’ll only say it in private. I said it really doesn’t matter how the program goes, Jesus will still be born and we’ll still celebrate it and it will still be the best pageant ever!

May all of you who are travelling have safe trips home and back. Those of you who will be stuck in the airports, watching the snow fall and eating crumbs off the floor, hoping for Mom’s home-cooked meal, may the peace of Jesus be with you!

For everybody else, far away from home or family, may the peace of Jesus be with you also. It’s the day to celebrate Him and His Holy Birth, so be thankful for what you’ve got and be pleased that you can have a quiet house to take a nap in!

For those of you like us with a small family within arm’s reach, may the peace of Jesus be with you. Stand around the piano, sing carols and stay warm, passing out hugs and hot chocolate as you are able.