thehereandafter

This was the best Christmas ever!   And if the family, fellowship, gifts, food, and fun wasn’t enough God blessed us with a measurable snowfall all day Sunday.   The Barnes’ estate looked beautiful dressed in a fresh blanket of snow white. Of course, we took all the pictures…Amanda, I, my nephew and niece, their sweet babies…and we can’t forget Cooper, our dog. This morning I took Cooper for his morning walk and we took a different route. We walked through the snow back in the woods. The woods, with it’s carpet of white, lumps of snow hanging to all the branches overhead, and the sprinkle of snow that falls from the heavens as the wind blows is a perfect picture only our Creator can paint. As we walked peacefully, engulfed in white I couldn’t help but be reminded again about the season we are celebrating. An innocence baby being born eventually shedding his blood for us so that we can become as white as snow…” Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Isaiah 1

We all know that Christmas is a time of giving. From every pulpit, every preacher's lips, and from every devotional we are told how important it is to focus on giving at Christmas rather than on receiving. And I agree, this is very important. Well, not to be redundant, but the Lord has laid on my heart some words about giving that I want to share with you this Christmas. On Christmas we celebrate the birth of the greatest gift to mankind imaginable for all generations. It sometimes seems as if this birth was brought to us as quietly, as insignificantly to the world as possible. It was just a baby being born out in a smelly stable, in the cold, on just a plain winter's night. But this birth  was much more than insignificant. Every detail of this birth and the life that followed was planned meticulously by the master Creator and nothing was left to chance.  Before Mary, the mother of baby Jesus, discovered she was with child, God had worked on every detail...every person...ever

Night after last I posted about Satan subtly attempting to steal my joy this Christmas. Luckily, after talking with a treasured friend a light went off in my mind and my Lord was able to steer me down the right path. Well, here is another chapter to the story.... Yesterday morning I awoke with the joy of the Lord! What a new day...throw off the old and on with the new...we have a plan and I am ready to get started! First, get dressed, leave the house around 10ish or so, take Cooper to puppy daycare (a 30 minute drive) and then Amanda and I have about 6 hour to shop and fit in a meal before taking Amanda's hair appt. at 6:30 (one of her Christmas presents). Simple, planned, and to the point...what could happen to such a simple plan?! Amanda has been awake since 3:30 a.m. and is concerned about Cooper (her puppy). He has been doing this coughing and choking thing all night and she is concerned he has something caught in his throat. Could I watch him for awhile for her to go back

Here at the Barnes' Estate the house is not fully decorated, the Christmas letter has not been printed, the Christmas cards are still in the box (list though is made), the menu for Christmas Day has not been decided on, haven't made my list of gifts yet, and  have yet to start shopping! And guess what?!...Christmas is 5 days away! Last night, over the telephone, I shared with a close friend how frustrated I was because I was so off my game. Oh, after the way we have spent the last three years I am not so worried about the decorations or the menu (look at my family...we will eat no matter what!), or even the shopping...I can make it happen if I put my mind to it. What is really bothering me  this year there is no reason to be so melancholy! Russell is working (not just 1 job but 2), my son just finished paramedic school and passed his national registry test, his  wife is working and happy, and Amanda is happy and has her new best friend (her dog) Cooper. Since Thanksgiving Ama