Welcome to my blog, or should I say to the ramblings of an old man. I doubt that my ramblings are of much value, but at least I have an opportunity to share them.  So, please be kind and humor me. If nothing else of value stands out in these thoughts, I hope that you at least sense the value I place on a daily walk with the Lord.  That walk is what has provided me with motivation and a sense of purpose throughout my lifetime.  My prayer is that you, too, are experiencing this direction and joy in daily living which is available to everyone who puts his trust in Christ.  So, thanks again for joining me.  Please don't go without leaving some comments here so I can get to know you better as our paths intersect today in this blog.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Twas The Day Before Christmas

Twas the day before Christmas and all through the land all the people are preparing as fast as they can … It is interesting how we have a whole year to prepare for Christmas and yet we are all so very busy at the last minute getting things ready. This morning we took our usual morning walk at Park City. The stores opened early and the customers were there, at least the men were. I think 90% of the shoppers were men doing their last minute shopping. And it looks like most of the women in their lives must be getting jewelry. The first jewelry store had five male customers, another had four, a third had seven men and one woman, and the fourth wasn't opened yet – I wonder how much business they lost. Traffic everywhere was getting heavy at that early hour. I'm actually ready for Christmas although my wife is still busy getting the food ready for our family buffet. All of our kids will be coming tonight for our Christmas celebration. One of my big jobs is completed. For the past five years I have prepared special dvds for our kids which highlight the past year in pictures and music. They are done. I also prepare additional chapters to add to the books that I have written for each of my grandchildren. These are chapters about their heritage and the lives of their ancestors. This year I've written five more chapters and prepared more pictures of their great grandparents and great great grandparents and their families. One of these is the first letter that my step grandfather, Pastor N. H. Wolf, wrote home to his parents when at the age of 15 he left home to become part of the pastoral team at a mission church in Lebanon. It is interesting to see the faith and maturity of a young lad as he sacrificed to serve the Lord. Another long chapter shares incidents from the lives of my parents and my grandparents. (If you are interested you can read these at fbfawana.com/Blog.html) I did have to rewrite part of this chapter on Tuesday after I learned some things about my mother and her father which I had never known. On Tuesday we made a quick trip to see three of my four remaining aunts on my mother's side. Thesel three are now in Manor Care at Sunbury. My mother's oldest sister, Anna, is now 92 and she told me that they had once lived in Port Trevorton. Their father, Pappy Wise, worked for a lumber company in Herndon and they wanted him to move across the Susquehanna River to live and work at their facility in Port Trevorton. So, in the middle of the winter, when the river was frozen, the family moved across the river using a horse drawn sleigh. I wonder if they sang Jingle Bells. When the move didn't work out, they later returned to Herndon, this time moving across the river on a barge. Unfortunately, I don't know how old my mother was at that time and she never talked about it. But that story and a few other items had to be included in what I had written for this year. So I am now ready for Christmas, except maybe for a short nap before the kids all come tonight. This will be a different Christmas for us, our first as orphans. It will be strange not to have dad with us tonight and it will be strange not to head to Sunbury to be with Dianne's dad tomorrow. We miss them, but we thank God that they are having a better Christmas celebration this year. After visiting my aunts in the home in Sunbury, I have thanked the Lord again for his goodness in caring for our parents. God is good all the time – even in times of grief. So we will spend Christmas Day alone this year, by our choice. We were invited by our children to be with them, but we decided that maybe it would be nice to just sit together in front of the fire, watch the Christmas tree and the birds at our feeders, listen to Christmas music, maybe sip hot chocolate, eat some no calorie cookies, and just relax. That sounds like a plan and I am looking forward to it. I hope that you have a blessed Christmas.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Mr. Kauffman, I Love You!!!