Christmas Time Is Here!

As I sit down to write this, the song from A Charlie Brown Christmas is floating through my head - "Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer" - if you want to hear the whole song, it's at the following address (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRm5qofw5vs.

We're heading home this weekend, and we can't wait!! Don't get me wrong - it's been great here, and we love the people we've met - but it'll be so nice to be somewhere where I can go out and be understood by anyone I come across - a neighbor walking his dog; the person standing in front of me in the check-out line; our friendly neighborhood chocolatier. Oh, wait a second - there are no neighborhood chocolatiers where we're going in the US!! Well, you can't win them all. :)

Things here are looking more and more like Christmas. Last week, we got a couple of snow falls, and the snow has been sticking around, so everything is white and beautiful. I don't think they use much salt on the roads, so the snow tends to stay white and clean much longer. Also, they've put up decorations downtown, with lights strung across many of the streets, and at times we are fortunate enough to hear Christmas music being played by musicians on the street corners. There's nothing like a brass band playing Silent Night to get you in the Christmas spirit! I would include a picture of the Christmas lights for you, but my nighttime photography skills leave much to be desired, so I will spare you the pain of looking at a blurry photo.

Instead, I've included a different Christmas picture for your viewing pleasure. You might be asking yourself, "What does a cow have to do with Christmas?? Maybe a reindeer, but not a cow!!!" Well, without this cow, you would have no milk to include with the cookies you leave for Santa. And you would also have no butter with which to make the cookies. And if Santa found out there was no milk and cookies (and he has ways of knowing these things), he might not stop at your house! So, as you can see, this cow is a very important part of Christmas!!

I could use this line of reasoning as evidence that I am desperately in need of a break from studying French, but for those of you that know me well, you know that this is how my brain normally works, even when I'm not studying! But we'll take our vacation none-the-less. :)

May God's gift of salvation through Jesus be an encouragement to you this Christmas!!