Did you think I’d abandoned this place? No, I haven’t. I’ve tried to write this post a number of times in recent weeks and it simply wouldn’t flow. I admit that I’ve been preoccupied with the state of our nation as well as preparing for Christmas. I’ve also been struggling with some eye fatigue and so here we are just two days before Christmas.

My shopping is done and the gifts are wrapped. We’re having a quiet Christmas this year. We already celebrated with David’s parents and we won’t be able to see my parents. My mom had surgery a few weeks ago (one of the prayer requests I shared – thank you!). Her surgery went well, but she’s still recovering so it will be a few more weeks before we can see them.

Like many of you, this Christmas season feels off. We sang very few carols at church due to all of the restrictions and I dearly miss music. We’ve had virtually no snow this winter. I realize snow has nothing to do with the birth of Christ, but when you live in a four seasons part of the world and the season simply doesn’t seem to start… It’s just a bit discombobulating on top of everything else that has happened this year.

My Christmas cards went out at the very last minute. Again, not characteristic of me. But I managed to write a Christmas letter to include and get them out. We’ve sent a Christmas letter every year we’ve been married (1997) and I decided I wasn’t going to let 2020 rob me of one more thing. Given the struggles I’ve been having with my eyes, it probably had typos. Oh well. It went on its merry way.

I’ve been doing a lot of organizing and streamlining of all kinds of things – email, online, paperwork, calendar, etc. Rather than write about them here where they will get lost in a post during Christmas week, I’ll try to write about them in the coming weeks.

That’s all for today, friends. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. Maybe you be blessed with peace, understanding, joy, beauty, and faith during this holy season.

Artwork: “Skiing Children” by Jenny Nystrom