Merry Christmas from FG

I'm sitting down, taking a little break from work.  No, I'm not at the office, I'm at home getting ready for round one of celebrating Christmas with family and friends.  Taking a break from the Duck Dude Drama....taking a break from Obamacare deadline debates...taking a break from the Walmart Wonderland (wondering why I ever go there)....taking a break from Festivus Festivities (I left my Festivus Pole in my office, and I haven't seen my eldest son for the feats of strength yet.  I already aired my grievances...several times yesterday). 

Company Christmas parties, eating, the mad rush of my typical last minute Christmas stuff purchasing, cooking, eating, driving on ice, eating, getting mad because my jeans are too tight, eating comfort food, yelling at stupid drivers while eating Christmas candy...need I continue?  It gets kind of crazy this time of year.

I'm taking a little time to reflect on Christmas.  The ghost of Christmas past takes me waaaay back to the farm.  Waking up in footy pajamas and either waiting impatiently for Dad to get home from the fire station to start ripping off wrapping paper from amazing kid treasures, or having that early Christmas on the eve before when Dad was home....I was a lucky kid on those years!  Watching my 3 amigos as little kiddos was so incredible.  The light in their eyes, the smiles on their faces, the sheer adrenaline of totally wired male offspring that had them bouncing off the walls, and sometimes each other...ah the memories.  And now the first Christmas with the first grandson is here.  It's now the wonder in my eyes...he's still pretty oblivious to it all at nearly 4 months old.  No, he will not get one of those wicked "monkey in the ball toys" (see previous post)...I'm trying to start some Papa traditions.  OK, maybe I did get a little something that makes a little bit of noise...just a little. :)  Just don't tell his folks...I have a feeling they won't be as thrilled.  It will certainly be a great Christmas for Papa.

I don't think it can be overstated...in fact I think sometimes it's understated.  This season isn't about us...it isn't about stuff...it isn't about food (although I seem to like that part)...it's about God coming to us as a dependent infant into an insane world, choosing to limit himself as one of us, deciding to grow into a man (a manly man, in my opinion, not the sissified guy we often see pictured), and bringing the only possible solution to the dark side of the human condition as he submitted himself to the most cruel of deaths, Roman capital punishment, as an innocent man...a sacrificial substitute for you and me.  No, he probably wasn't born on December 25, but it's the day we've chosen to celebrate the unknown day by celebrating what we DO know...God loves us and became one of us to prove it.  Merry Christmas!!...FG

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