For some reason i was laying in my bed the other night while it was as still as could be (considering it's Christmas time) throughout our home and my mind began wandering toward the fact that in just a few days it will be January 1st of 2010....
About that same time, i begin to think about what i was doing about ten years ago in December 1999, right before the arrival of January 1st of the year 2000...
okay, okay i admit it, i was a a little bit unsure about the whole "Y2K" thing.... and while i had not built a bunker in the back yard that was stocked with survivalist supplies, i did wonder what would happen...
i do know one thing, unlike December of 1999, i sensed the presence of God in my life and in our home the other night as i lay there in that dark bedroom... i could hear the radio in my youngest son's bedroom play some song that made a powerful statement about the importance of faith in Christ... i recognized how God had made it possible for my daughter and second oldest son to connect with other students their own respective ages who will be lifelong friends.... i felt pride swell in my heart as my oldest son, against all sorts of odds, makes his way through a university atmosphere learning what it means to truly live the faith he claims to possess...
And for what seemed to be the millionth time since we have been married to each other... i imagined (because i could not see remember? It was night time...) what my wife's incredible smile looked like when she is awake....
i don't remember much about about December 1999 but i do hope the image i just recalled stays with me for many more years to come...
Happy New Year.
29.12.09
18.12.09
Ho, Ho, Ho....
Well, here we go... Christmas time in Chicago!
There's nothing like it! Perhaps the thing i like about Christmas here is that it's filled with all sorts of memories...
Probably my most favorite memory is growing up in Park Forest and going to Blackhawk Junior High and Rich East High School. Even though i was pretty much a big cry-baby (that's another story for another blog)... i managed to survive the experience! The Christmas season was when we would have concerts and basketball games... i was better at the singing than the playing basketball by far!
i can still recall the smell of popcorn in the halls at East during the basketball season... people shuffling in from the cold, snowy, wet parking lot. The trees by the campus lagoon standing in the middle of a blanket of snow. i can remember thinking... "Man, i feel sorry for Roscoe (one of our janitors)... he is going to have to clean up this wet mess!"
The Christmas concerts with the Singing Rockets (that's what our upper-class Choral group was called) were always a great event as well. Mr. Ulreich would wear his tux during the sacred song portion of the program and would actually let us sing these great songs about the coming of Christ. The fun part was after the program when we would just get a chance as students to hang out...
Which frankly is what i look forward to most with my own family... just hanging out on Christmas eve... there will be home-made hot chocolate, new pajamas from Old Navy and probably "The Christmas Story", you remember....
Ralphie: No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!
Santa: You'll shoot your eye out, kid... Ho, Ho... Ho.
There's nothing like it! Perhaps the thing i like about Christmas here is that it's filled with all sorts of memories...
Probably my most favorite memory is growing up in Park Forest and going to Blackhawk Junior High and Rich East High School. Even though i was pretty much a big cry-baby (that's another story for another blog)... i managed to survive the experience! The Christmas season was when we would have concerts and basketball games... i was better at the singing than the playing basketball by far!
i can still recall the smell of popcorn in the halls at East during the basketball season... people shuffling in from the cold, snowy, wet parking lot. The trees by the campus lagoon standing in the middle of a blanket of snow. i can remember thinking... "Man, i feel sorry for Roscoe (one of our janitors)... he is going to have to clean up this wet mess!"
The Christmas concerts with the Singing Rockets (that's what our upper-class Choral group was called) were always a great event as well. Mr. Ulreich would wear his tux during the sacred song portion of the program and would actually let us sing these great songs about the coming of Christ. The fun part was after the program when we would just get a chance as students to hang out...
Which frankly is what i look forward to most with my own family... just hanging out on Christmas eve... there will be home-made hot chocolate, new pajamas from Old Navy and probably "The Christmas Story", you remember....
Ralphie: No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!
Santa: You'll shoot your eye out, kid... Ho, Ho... Ho.
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