Happy December! The countdown to Chritmas has begun for children, parents, frantic shoppers, and the church too. Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent at which time we begin to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually for the celebration of the birth of the Christ child through reflection and prayer. This is what separates the world of faith from the secular world. Target and Walmart can sell you a whole lot of things, but they can't offer you salvation for your soul. They can't sell you peace of mind nor a heart full of love. Nor, my friends, can the church give you those things. It takes a personal relationship with God, found only through prayer.

It is a gloomy morning. It is or has been raining and the temperature is close to freezing. The backyard gang is filling themselves at the feeders which are almost empty. There is a woodpecker out there fussing at me because the barkbutter feeders are empty. The cardinals, on the other hand, are happy because there is still plenty of sunflower seed in their feeders.

Ms. Kate and I are basically just twiddling our thumbs this morning. We are waiting on our contractor to show up and go over all of the work they are going to do. They are supposed to start tomorrow ripping out the panneling in the family room and doing the renovation. After he comes today, we are picking up sister-in-law Karen and driving to Nashville, TN for the night. Then in the morning we fly out to Las Vegas and southern CA for eight days. I'm hoping the contractors will have all of the wall boarding up, mudding and sanding done by the time we get back. That would save a lot of dust breathing that I don't need. My family room sure looks strange though to see it completely empty.

We had a wonderful ten day visit with Julie over the Thanksgiving holiday. There was lots of visiting and laughing and sharing of ourselves; and between us, --- gallons of coffee drank. She drinks coffee at the rate I used to when I was her age. I'm probably down to no more than a pot or a pot and a half a day, depending on what is going on. Many days though I won't have more than a half of a pot. It never keeps me awake at night so why not.

I plan to take my Nook along with me on vacation, but I suspect my blogs will be spotty for the next week and a half. If I miss you on a day, know that my prayers are still there for all of us. And let me be one of the first to wish each of you a Merry Christmas season. Have a blessed day.