On Christmas day, Marta and I spent some time with family.  We were able to visit with Marta’s parents and all of our kids and our grandkids.  And of course, we exchanged some gifts.  I got some wonderful gifts, new pajamas, a weighted blanket, cologne and a coffee cup with some great pictures of the family.  For me, the entire day served as a reminder to enjoy and count all of God’s blessings – my cup really is running over!  Marta is such a wonderful wife, mom and nana.  She has always been so good to me and so good for me… and not just when I am on crutches!  I am so grateful the Lord brought us together 35 years ago.  And our kids are such a blessing too! Eric and Amanda, and Lauren and Matt are such good and loving parents.  I am so proud of each and every one of them.

And of course, I am grateful for the grandkids.  It was Theo’s first Christmas and he was rocking the Christmas pajamas and the Santa hat!  He is two months old now and he has grown so much in the last 8 weeks!  And even though he has grown so much, he still seems so small.  It is hard to imagine that his cousins Avery and Haley who are 10 and 8 now, were ever that small.  As I thought about how much all of the grandkids have grown, I thought about how much growing they have yet to do.  There are so many things they will learn and experience over the years.  My prayer for them this Christmas is that as they grow, they will also continue to grow in the grace and knowledge and the blessings of the Lord.

I hope that as this year draws to a close, you will have time to reflect on the blessings in your life. And I hope and pray that you will experience many more blessings in the year to come.

Ephesians 1:3   Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.