snow Snow SNow SNOw SNOW!

Ahh yes, it is that time of the year. Thought I would add to my previous pictorial update with a few more photos. Currently, Ken and Beth and the Burns may be able to see some of this for real, but I was thinking back to my time in the motor city and thought that I would share this picture that I took of my very first snow angel (at the ripe age of 23) that I made while I was there.

One of the things I love about Christmas is Christmas trees. Some may have real trees and others may obtain perfectly formed "imitations" of real trees with which they fill their homes with color and, in some cases, fragrant pine aroma. The most impressive Christmas tree that I saw this season was the one in the entry courtyard to Main Street at Disneyland. Cory and I are pictured here gazing into one of the hundreds of ornaments that adorn this tree.

I have been thinking of what it would be like to have a white Christmas, as compared to the California Christmas pictured above from Candy Cane Lane in the Circle City. Now, some of you may have experienced a white Christmas this year, and others of you, the closest that you got to a white Christmas was white Christmas lights and the 4 minute foam at The Magic Kingdom. Some of you actually may have gone out on Christmas and built a snowman and had a snowball fight or gone sledding, others of you may have sat in your family room with the screen door open watching 24. With all of its perks, I think I enjoyed the fact of it being in the 70's on Christmas and going in the Hot Tub at night. Can't quite do that so easily in Michigan.
That's right, there is truly nothing like a California Christmas. (Cory and I are pictured above in front of California Adventure with our passes.) Today I was thinking about the different types of Christmas and thinking about the different things that can be enjoyed in different geographic locations. However, there is one thing about Christmas that is the same no matter where. We celebrate Christ's beginning as the start of the culmination of God's plan of salvation.

Today I was reading in Psalm 66 where the Psalmist expresses shouts of Joy to the Lord for the great things that He has done. In verse 5, He says, "Come and see what God has doen, He is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man." This is the cause for how the Psalmist can begin the psalm by exclaiming, "Shout for joy to God, all the earth, sing the glory of his name, give to Him glorious praise! Say to God, 'How awesome are your deeds!'"

I am the kind of guy who gets excited by the Christmas season. There is something about the cool weather and wearing sweaters and drinking Hot Cocoa and snow (both real and fake) and time with no pre-set schedule that brings joy to my heart. But how do I react when that is over? Today I am back in the office, where drinking Hot Chocolate just doesn't feel the same as sipping it in as you look at the lights from a park on a hilltop.

However, God's works are always great! They can be rejoiced in from the frozen tundra to the tropical shores! Join with me in rejoicing in the great things that God has done and making my life a proverbial shout of joy and praise to the glory of His name.

B. Blakey