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Nobody gets through this life without adversity. Sooner or later, we all have troubles to deal with. Difficulties usually take us by surprise and occur suddenly. They may be big problems, they may be little problems, but they are still problems, and if you don’t already have them, rest assured they are coming.

The worst thing you can do is try to run away from them. Face them head on. Admit and confess your weaknesses and faults. Commit to setting things right one step at a time. Whether that be taking care of your health, grieving the loss of a loved one, relationship stress, financial worries, whatever. The road to peace and security may be a long one, but you can’t get there unless you start the journey.

Have confidence in yourself. Trust that God loves you and is working for your benefit. You will get through it.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

“And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

“The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior!”

I am so grateful to you for subscribing to my blog, and taking the time to read my daily posts. I try very hard to keep them brief and to make them meaningful and helpful so that I don’t waste your time. My goal is to be just a little ray of sunshine and hope in your day. Your comments and responses are always welcome and I often learn much from reading them. I love to hear your stories and experiences.

I will never allow ads in my blog. This is not about making money. There will never be links to other websites trying to sell you something.

My Christmas wish for you is that you will feel the love of Jesus in your life every single day. That you stay secure in the knowledge that you are never alone. That living a good, moral life is worthwhile. And that you are surrounded by blessings that you can see and acknowledge.

From the bottom of my heart, Merry Christmas to you and your family. The Savior of the world is born!

When I was growing up, our Christmas tree was decorated with various bulbs and tinsel. But over the years, the decorations evolved. Our tree this Christmas is loaded with keepsake ornaments. There are souvenirs from our most memorable vacations. There are small photographs of our children at various stages of life. There are kissing penguins and dancing reindeer, little curios we brought home from all over the world. Some of the items are gifts from precious friends.

Bulbs and tinsel are beautiful, but when I look at our tree now, I see a collection of the incredible blessings of my life. I truly hope you see the same in your home.

I’ve been noticing that each year fewer and fewer people are decorating their houses and lawns for Christmas. Maybe folks are just too busy. Or maybe they are just not feeling it. There’s so much stress and worry and negativity in our world today, it’s becoming more difficult to get into the Christmas spirit.

As a child, decorating the house and yard was a tradition everyone looked forward to. You could drive down any street and admire the colorful lights, the manger scenes, the inflatables and statues. Some homeowners would go all out, but everyone did at least a little something.

Christmas is, of course, Christian-based. Sadly, our culture is moving in a direction that erodes Christian values. Maybe the growing cynicism about God and Jesus is a factor in the lack of decoration. Makes me appreciate those manger scenes all the more.

I have a very simple mind, so I guess I appreciate when genius comes from simple things. Which is why I have always been fascinated by the toilet. It performs such an important function, yet it requires no power. It simply uses gravity and basic physics to operate.

The flush toilet was invented by Sir John Harrington in 1596. He had no electricity to work with. He had only the forces of nature known at the time. Yet his concept was so brilliant it is still used today, more than four hundred years later! One day, when you are really, really bored, lift the cover off of your toilet tank and watch the flush operate. It is so innovative and yet so fundamental in its simplicity. How resourceful was Sir John to figure out how to create this?

It just goes to show you can take the simple circumstances around you and turn them into something positive and helpful to others. It just takes a little thought and creativity. It’s time to flush away those negative feelings.

We care so much about what other people think about us. Deep down inside, we know it doesn’t really matter, but still we seek approval and praise from our peers. I guess receiving compliments and acknowledgement makes us feel as though we fit in. That we are doing something right. That we’re normal. We’re not alone.

Sadly, seeking to fit in often takes us in a direction further away from God. At some level we are aware this. We’re not gullible or ignorant. We are conscious of our actions. We make a decision between self-esteem and humility. All too often we conclude that pleasing God is not enough. We want the acceptance of others.

God knew we would struggle with this. After all, He created us. That’s why He sent a Savior to redeem us. When you have Jesus, you don’t need the approval of anyone else. We all know this in our heart. If only we could find the courage to live it.

When it comes to watching television these days, my two most favorite words are “fast forward”. You have probably noticed that commercial breaks are getting longer and more frequent. I recently timed the break during a prime time drama I was watching the other night. It was a full five minutes long! We’ve come a long way from when the announcer used to say “we’ll be back in 60 seconds”.

So now we record most of our favorite shows and fast forward through all those ads. The streaming services, of course, have already caught on to this. Most of them disable fast forwarding when you watch something on demand. You are forced to endure the clutter, although the length of the breaks is generally shorter.

If only we could fast forward through all the trivial stuff in our lives and focus on the important things. God, family, friends, country. Maybe it’s time to change the channel of your journey.

Your feet are the unsung heroes of your body. Hands, arms, faces, hair and tummies get all the attention. But your feet bear the weight of your entire anatomy every time you get up. During exercise and athletic activity you bend, twist and turn them every which way. You keep them in sweaty socks and tight shoes all day. They work so hard they often develop callouses and blisters. But do your hard working feet get any attention or love? Not very often. We’re too busy fixing our hair and pumping up our arms and flattening our stomachs.

Today I soaked my feet in warm water, massaged them and moisturized and manicured them. Then I let them bask without covering in my porch sun for a while. I could almost hear them gratefully say “thank you”!

Feet are like friends and family. Treat them with love and they will love you back.

When my grandchildren were just toddlers I remember we bought them a large toy set. It was quite elaborate and arrived in a huge cardboard box. It was very expensive but we figured, if it brings joy to our grands, it’s worth it, right?

The kids excitedly pried the immense box open, saw the toy set, played with it for about ten minutes, and then got bored. However, they went back to the big empty box, crawled inside, and made a fort out of it. They played in that box for days while the toy set sat unused.

I couldn’t help thinking there was a lesson to be learned here. The simplest things in life are still the things that bring us the most joy. A good friend, a big hug, being among those you love and who love you back. Material stuff only brings temporary joy.

I also learned that if you want to entertain toddlers, just get them a big, empty box.