Merry Christmas!  I have an extensive list of Grown Up Christmas wishes. One is that the ABLE Act of 2013 will make it to the floor and get passed!  I’m thinking just in time for Buddy Walk on Washington in February so we can all celebrate.  I’m also praying for a special little baby girl who needs a miracle. Rachel prayed for God to heal her tonight.  That’s my prayer too. I have another friend who has valiantly fought ovarian cancer. She is amazing.  She is close to Jesus now. I am praying for her to make it through her “Dream List,” and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to have coffee with her in March.  I cannot take away the pain of the loss of my Aunt Delores for my uncle, her children, her grandchildren and my daddy. I am praying fervently that they will find comfort in knowing that she has no more sorrow, no more pain.  When I was a little girl, my Grandmother Molene’s mom died on Christmas Eve.  My sister and I were chatting today and she reminded me of all of this, and we both giggled.  Not about Great Grandma passing but when we asked my Grandmother if we would still have Christmas, she said “Of course we are still having Christmas.” I can hear it like she is standing here and if you knew her, you would giggle too.

So as a reflect on a year full of great blessings and challenges and as I am saddened by some of my own losses and the losses and the unavoidable pain that many of my friends and family face, I must remind you all of what Linus said: “Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men'”. Luke 2:10

That’s what Christmas is all about.

This is one of my favorite pictures from growing up. Jonathan discovered it when we had my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary and he deemed that it deserved the tagline “Pure Love.”  I know to everyone else it probably is just an old picture. But Jonathan’s tagline hit it for me…. Pure Love.