I have been having a wonderful Christmas season so far! It has been great! Thinking back over this year as a whole, it has surely had its challenges for my family and me ... but I know the Lord has used those things in our lives ... I was really impacted by my parents' great example of holding firmly to the truth of Romans 8:28 throughout the time we went through my dad having cancer! It definitely encouraged me and strengthened me in my own faith.

The associate pastor at my church has been going through this special Christmas series titled "Looking unto Jesus," based on Hebrews 12:1,2.**The past two Sundays have been great, and I can hardly wait for this Sunday's message! He has brought out the wonder of Jesus and encouraged us to rekindle our love for Him ... our wonder at His presence and who He is and what He has done for us. He has talked about the wonderful joy that is ours because of Jesus ... a joy that can be constant in our lives, for it is not based on earthly things or temporal comforts. Praise the Lord for this! :)

[Listen at http://www.prestonwood.org/services/media/weekend_media.php
Click on "Everything We Believe Begins with Him" and "Everything We Hope For is Fulfilled in Him." Those are the first two messages in the series, and the third will probably be there within this next week!]

I have also been enjoying the "festivities" of the Christmas season with wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ ... several great Christmas parties, the most recent one being our GFA staff Christmas party this past Friday evening. :) It was such a special time, from the time when I received "valet parking" thanks to our teenagers (a first for me! :)), to when I discovered that because there was a cute Christmas sticker under my plate, I would get to keep the beautiful red roses at the table, to the great fellowship and laughter I got to share with others, to running into some more of my dear friends/co-workers as I went out to my car, looking for where it had been valet-parked. :-D

We also got to sing Christmas carols and eat yummy food, and be reminded of people in Asia who are celebrating the Christ of Christmas through our partnership with the work on the field ... wow ... that just boggles my mind ... praise the Lord! :o)

Then on Sunday, I thoroughly enjoyed the final message in the "Looking unto Jesus" Christmas series. It was also great catching up with dear friends and hearing the great teaching during adult Bible fellowship, too. Afterwards we all went to Chuck's for lunch--and then some of us went and gave sandwiches--and the Gospel--to the homeless in downtown Dallas!

It was an incredible experience on so many levels for me ... and I ultimately came back renewed, refreshed and encouraged. My heart was full of joy. Now? I'm doing pretty well overall I think ... trying to finish up all my projects before I drive toward the Deep South on Saturday morning to see my parents for the holidays! Looking forward to that time ... and hopefully will be able to not pull too much of my hair out in the meantime, as I try to finish projects. :) Seriously, I have been able to get quite a bit done this evening already and am feeling quite hopeful. :-)

I have been enjoying the Christmas season so much this year.