Merry Christmas

I love this time of year. I love celebrating and giving gifts. I love the emphasis on family and love. I know the main focus of Christmas is Jesus yet for me as a gift giver (love language) this time of year is awesome.
I also have this weird tradition of really decorating the inside of my house on Christmas Eve. Some of you have never seen pictures of ever heard of this fine tradition so I wanted to share some videos with you that might help you understand what exactly my family gets to experience in just a couple of hours (maybe I should be getting some sleep and not posting these videos...oh well)

My Mom Gives The Best Gifts

So my mom has this incredible ability to give Angie some of the best gifts ever. This year she decided to get her a Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree. Angie loved seeing this while she lived in Japan. We received the tree today and needless to say it made Angie cry when sh realized what it was. I have uploaded a few pictures into a slide show.

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season.

Some Random Thoughts.

So it seems like it has been forever since I have posted anything. I mean it has been nearly 2 whole weeks. I have considered writing on a variety of different topics but nothing ever seem to come together in an intelligible format. So I have finally decided to write some random thoughts for you.

So have you ever considered what your purpose is in life? Have you ever asked God His purpose for you? What did you find out? If you have never taken the time to do this I would encourage you to as soon as you can.

Our reactions to the terrible events in our lives have an incredible impact on our relationship with God. I know one young man who was in a terrible accident and nearly died. He has chosen to view this as some sort of attack by God on Him. He looks at this as God abandoning Him. This has lead Him to conclude that God does not really exist. This is contrast to viewing the accident in light of God protecting Him from death. The bottom line is that if God had wanted him dead he would be dead right now. How do you usually react to adversity?

I love snow. I love watching my boys play in the snow. Anthony is still getting used to it but Aiden loved throwing snow balls at me. We all loved the snow ice cream. It was yummie!

Well those are some of the thoughts bouncing around in my head. Hope maybe you have gotten something out of all of this. :)

Sins of the Fathers

Have you ever thought about how your sins and choices will affect your children or even their children?

While God's grace and mercy can break any of the cycles of sins there is something to be said for the impact of our decisions on our children. In 2 Kings 5 we see how Gehazi's greed caused his descendants to have leprosy of some sort. At some level this does not seem fair to later generations. Why must they be punished for something they had not control over? I think this is where God's mercy and grace and our obedience comes in to play. If make the choice the follow God then we can be the ones to break the cycle.

I know for me this puts a greater significance on all of the decisions I make. So what decisions do you to make that could impact your kids (even if you don't have any yet)? Are you seeking out God's wisdom on your decisions? Do you seek to honor God in all that you do?

I hope so. I know I try and while I know that I fail on many different things, to do try. I rest on God's grace to overlook those times when I fail Him and others.