Had A Holly Jolly Christmas

Not a long post because I've got a wedding to go to in a little while but people have been asking for puppy pictures so here's a couple...

Lora got to see and hold Holly first

(before we brought her inside to surprise the kids)

because she's waited over 10 years for a Golden Retriever

We put her in a box (didn't even wrap it) and brought it in.

The kids were like "I thought we weren't doing presents this year"

I don't think they mind that we "broke" the no presents rule.

ADORABLE!  This is Holly Anna.  

Holly because we got her at Christmas and

Anna because it makes her name sound like the 

happy-go-lucky 'Pollyanna' (Lora's favorite movie)

And yes, even I am excited about a puppy.

(and even more excited it's NOT a cat!)

Holly's safe haven where she can escape from all the chaos.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas Day - Jesus the Savior of the World has been born.  We have plenty to celebrate.

(and for the occasional scrooge - you can celebrate the fact that the music no longer loads when you hit up my blog)

What's Your Reaction?

I watched this and it made me....

Watch this and tell me what you're reaction is.

Oh, and by the way....only one more post until the Christmas music doesn't automatically load on this page.

Swaziland Christmas Offering

I'm not quite sure what to think right now. We, as a family, have committed to not really "do" Christmas gifts this year and instead, we're going to be giving and investing in stuff that will be much more likely to have an eternal impact - like Operation Christmas Child or our Swaziland Christmas offering. There are still moments when I think and wonder...."what am I going to get________?" but then I catch myself and reassure myself that it's actually ok that the answer is "nothing"

Here's what I'm not so sure about....when I presented the church with the idea of spending less and giving more and specifically giving to our Swaziland Christmas offering to help train pastors and start churches there, people were interested and excited. From the sounds of it we'll have no problem assembling a team to go over there this summer. I figured even at a low (i.e. worst case scenario) estimate, each adult in our service giving $100 to this would help us reach our giving goal. Well, I'm not sure what's going to happen. I think people's intent will be good, but their actual decisions might interfere and they won't really spend less so they can give meaningful, impactful, important gifts. I guess we'll see. And if you want to give to our Swaziland Christmas offering, just click HERE, sign in or create an account, choose SPECIAL Offering and give.

I Know!!

Yes, I know I haven't blogged for a while (what will be changing come the first of the year)

I know that the Christmas music playing whenever you log on here is driving you nuts

I know you think I care that the music drives you nuts (but I don't)

I know I haven't gotten our Christmas letter out yet

I know Christmas is just over a week away

I know that we're going to make a difference in Swaziland with our Christmas Eve offering.  How much are you and your family contributing?

I know our family is going to enjoy one present (pretty much the only one) immensely

I know that we have some of THE best people at Discovery Church.  Period

I know some people have used the excuse that WE aren't organizing a Second Saturday Service and wrongly think that YOU don't have to love and serve others in our community.

I know Christmas Eve is going to be great!

I know you're going to have to listen to "It's the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" a few more times (if I blog too much it will go to the next page and won't play automatically)

I know somebody wants to buy me an iPhone, but isn't sure if I'm serious - I'm SERIOUS.  Claude and Marcus would probably like one too, but I asked first.

Wednesday It Is

The Ebelings will be in the Brandon, FL area on Wednesday (Dec 3) if anyone wants to hook up with us.  We're just setting up "camp" at the Ron and Windy Tuckers house so you can stop by there anytime between 5-8 (and 8 is a pretty firm end time since they need to get their kids to bed and we need to get ours back to Winter Haven - so don't be late!)

If you need directions or something else, feel free to email me and I'll shoot you their address otherwise we'll hopefully see you there!

I Always Knew

I went to my blog this morning and noticed in my reader along the side that something was "different" about Claude's feed.  And it's not just his feed, I clicked on the link and that post is all whack too.  I don't know how he does it, but I always knew he was odd.