Do any of you recall lazy Saturday mornings growing up as a kid?

• Your eyelids lifted gently to the light of day when you awoke versus when you had to get up, as in going to school.
• Perhaps the smell of breakfast cooking invited you to emerge from your bed to come downstairs, still in your PJ’s, sleepy eyes and all.
• Your Mom or Dad greeted you, you chowed down, and then you were off to watch your favorite cartoons for a little while.

We’re a week into the New Year, how are those resolutions going?

A U.S Government survey, shows a little less than half of all Americans make some kind of New Year’s resolution, but most don’t keep them:

• 75% will last a week.
• 64% will keep them for a month.
• Only 46% will ever make it to the six month mark.

The evenings seem to roll around quickly. The sun sets on a frozen lake, almost mirror-like in presence.   It is a vibrant reminder of the light of day now concluding with waterfowl flying in formation.  The nights are cold and sometimes snowy, leaving a chilly imprint as day turns into night.

It is Christmas morning 2013. 

I can’t sleep as thoughts spin around and around in my mind like a dryer finishing a load.  The house is dark except for the lone light on in the room in which I occupy.  There is no more acreage on the living room floor under and around the tree save for the presents.

The child (and adults) in the house will be rising soon enough, the day will begin, and Present Fest 2013 will commence.  Less acreage to be had on the living room floor!

Ann C. McCauley / January 31,1922 – December 24, 2012

This Christmas Eve marks the one year anniversary of the passing of a dear family member.  She now lives in eternity with her Lord.  Her words live on in her poems.  In her honor, I would like to share two of her poems.  She would have been delighted to share them with you as an early Christmas present.

I am not one for gadgets or the latest electronic fad unless the word functional can be associated with it.

When our daughters were learning to drive, cell phones entered our personal lives as a way for them to contact Mom or Dad in the event of an emergency.  I did so with white knuckle reluctance.

Life and Death reside in the power of the tongue.  Words, mere words, can be an oasis of hope and simultaneously can be considered a weapon, “a flame of fire”.

The passing of Nelson Mandela has been front and center in the news.  I am neither pro-Mandela nor anti-Mandela.   I am a casual observer, never really following his rise to leadership in South Africa.

The word “believe” is tossed about in a variety of ways.

• I believe anything is possible!
• There are creeds that state, “We believe in God the Almighty….”
• I saw “Believe” emblazoned on the side of Santa’s mailbox on a recent trip to the mall and plastered on many signs throughout the store.

  The Thanksgiving holiday has passed with a flash, along with it thinking of the many ways to recycle turkey. Black Friday has morphed into black Thursday evening, enticing us via pressure marketing to get the jump on the so called deals by having us shop all night and allowing what respite Thursday may have […]

Today, we as a people celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.  It is a time to gather with family and friends.  Many of us get to enjoy a day or two off of work.  We will watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade with its pageantry and the arrival of Santa Claus.