DECEMBER 25TH 2011
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, dear family and friends!
I hope this finds you all well and happy and excited to celebrate the birth of our Lord.
Even
the church services take on a warm and celebratory glow on Christmas
Eve and Christmas Day. I have always loved Christmas, and the child in
me still does. We do not exchange large gifts with each other any more,
and haven't for several years. My gift today from Art was a large bag of
dark roast Italian coffee beans from Starbucks. LOVE it!!! The money not
spent on gifts for us goes elsewhere. We have learned that not everybody
has a ho-ho-ho and expensive reason to celebrate....and not every child
goes to bed on Christmas Eve with visions of sugarplums dancing in
their heads. We take our two youngest grandchildren with us on Christmas
Eve, so they can see this for themselves as they pass out gifts. They
interact with the children,and we get to chat with Mom, usually a young
single parent. In recent years, we have started delivering a fully
cooked turkey dinner to a family as well. Why not? A few extra veggie
and baking added to the turkey is not going to break anyone. I mention
this hoping to inspire some of you to think about sharing what you have
been provided with...I know lots of you do lots more than we do, and
some have never even thought of it. I know we didn't for many years.
Speaking of grandchildren, Grace just turned 6 on the 23rd. She is
our Christmas baby. Shen will be 11 in February, he is our Valentine's
baby. Our two oldest are now adults, Kyle is 22, and Amelia will be 20
on the 28th of this month. (She is our Christmas baby too). I just
finished visiting with them on Skype, gotta love technology, even if you
don't understand a thing about it.
Pam just returned to the workforce. Her determination to work only while
her children are in school paid off. She works in a small Medical
Clinic M-F, from 9am-4pm. She was blessed to get those hours as the
office is open M-Sat, from 9am to 9pm. Ken works hard for his family as
he has always done. Our son still spends 90% of his time in the air. His
job takes him around the world at least twice a year. I wish he had
been a plumber..or a carpenter, or a ditch digger, or....or....:-)
Our daughter-in-law is still teaching and has just completed some
courses thru Wycliffe that enables her to teach others to read in their
language, and she will use the Bible as her curriculum material. In 2
days she goes to Mexico..I think she will start some teaching while she
is there.
As for us, we spent our usual nearly 6 months in our favorite vacation
spot. We both love NL and look forward to returning in May.
In early
December we had an early Christmas with our dear friends in Barrhead, in
what has now become our annual Klufas-Christmas, now expanded to
include friends John and Marlene Szwec.. This corresponds with the
Christmas Banquet at the Barrhead Alliance Church, where we attended for
many years. We meet old friends again, and enjoy visiting with them.
It was special having an all too brief visit with Sylvia, but the
quotation comes to mind..."Don't cry because it's over. Rejoice because
it happened!!"
In February, we are heading to Texas with my sister Daphne and her
husband Edgar for a holiday together, which we have never done. Being
separated by 5000 miles for so many years only allowed for brief visits,
especially in our working years.
Take care of yourselves, and each other. Enjoy the rest of the season, and may God richly bless each of you in 2012 '
Those Thornhills
(Art and Valerie)
