Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor. This is how it happened. I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room, and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out.
"What are you doing?" I started to ask.
The words choked up in my throat, and I saw that he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know. He then answered me with a simple statement: "TEACH THE CHILDREN!"
I was puzzled, what did he mean?
He anticipated my question, and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. As I stood bewildered, Santa said, "Teach the children. Teach them the real meaning of Christmas. The meaning of Christmas that nowadays has been forgotten."
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it before the mantle. Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round, depicting the everlasting hope of mankind. All the needles point Heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward Heaven.
He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. Teach the children that the star was the Heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a Savior for the world, and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of His promise.
He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE. Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light, we are reminded of He who displaces the darkness.
Once again he reached into his bag and removed a WREATH and placed it on the tree. Teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the real nature of love Christ showed for us. Real love never ceases. Love is one continuous round of affection.
He then pulled from his bag an ornament of HIMSELF. Teach the children that I, Santa Claus, symbolize the generosity and good will we feel during the month of December.
He then brought out a HOLLY LEAF. Teach the children that the holly plant represents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Savior. The red holly berries represent the blood that He shed for us.
Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and said, "Teach the children that God so loved the world that whoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. Teach the children that the wise men bowed before the Holy Babe and presented Him with gold, frankincense and myrrh. We should always give gifts in the same spirit of the wise men.
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree. Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the staff helps to bring strayed sheep back to the flock. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keeper.
He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL. Teach the children that it was the angels that heralded the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The angels sang "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will."
Suddenly I heard a soft tinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should bring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return.
Santa looked around and was pleased. He looked back at me and I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, "Remember, TEACH THE CHILDREN the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the center for I am but a humble servant of the One that is, and I bow down to worship Him, Our Lord, Our God, and Savior.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Craziness
Hello everybody. Hee Hee. Every time I say that, it reminds me of that children's book "The Monster at the End of This Book" starring lovable, furry old Grover. I love that book. It's so fun to read. If you haven't bought it for your kids yet, do!!! It's a riot.
So we have had a crazy weekend. The Halliburton Christmas party was on Friday night. It was nice, but speeches were way too long. And the entire time we could hear the music thumping from the party next door. Those people at World Health Club know how to have a good time. They had a disco Christmas party. How cool is that? We crashed it after dinner was over. There is something about dancing to Funky Town in an evening gown that is just way too much fun. We had a dinner party at my friend Christine's on Saturday night. I finally saw her gorgeous engagement ring and she asked me to be her maid of honor at their wedding in August. I'm so happy for her. She's one of those people that just never has anything work out in their favor. And she's starting to turn her life around, so I'm really proud of her.
Sunday was a pretty big day for us. We volunteered at the Christmas Splendor Feed the Needy banquet and it was a huge success. We fed over 3500 people in under an hour and handed out almost 1000 gifts to the children. Every year, that event amazes me in so many ways. It's incredible how many people show up to help out. Halliburton had a group of 63 volunteers alone. The amount of food it takes to feed all these people is shocking and the fact that complete strangers pull together for an afternoon to pull the event off is really great. The organization it must take to coordinate an event like this just blows my mind. It's really fulfilling to help out and give people food, but at the same time the sheer volume of people who had to attend this banquet to get a hot meal is really sobering. A good friend of mine volunteered with us on Sunday and it was his first time at an event like this. After we were done, I could tell he was just really bummed out. He said is was just way too sad to watch the families coming in to get food because they couldn't buy it on their own. And yes, it is incredibly sad, but one person can only do what one person can do. You can't save everyone at once. You can help by donating time and money. Without that, and without concerned citizens, the situation would be so much worse. So I think that put a positive spin on things for him. I hope, anyways. It's like Margaret Meade said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
I am completely exhausted today because we went to the Crue and Aerosmith last night. Wow, what a show! The Crue was great, because they're always great. Lots of lights and fire and explosions and smoke and best of all....really, really loud music. The best part of the Crue portion.... Home Sweet Home. Vince handed it over to the crowd which was probably a good thing, because his voice just ain't what it used to be. And I'll never get over how cool it looks and sounds when 20000 people are singing at the top of their lungs waving lighters and cell phones. I love it. And it was Nikki Sixx's birthday yesterday too. Very good showing by the Crue. With that being said, I must admit that it was Aerosmith who floored me last night. I've never been a huge Aerosmith fan, but they are amazing performers. It took about 1/2 hr after Motley Crue to tear down their stage and set up for Aerosmith, but it was worth the wait. They had a walk out stage into the middle of the floor and 2 ramps that went up each side. We had seats in row 6 so we got a few close ups of the group. They had no crazy lights or explosions, just a lot of incredible performing. Steven Tyler (no matter how many times I've made fun of him in the past) is so charismatic. It was hard to take your eyes off of him. The crowd was insane, singing every word along with him. He hasn't lost much over the years, his voice will still give you chills. My favorite part of the Aerosmith portion.... Cryin. All I could picture was Alicia Silverstone in that video! It's a classic. And my favorite part of the entire show.... Dream On. That song was the best live performance I have ever seen. Hands down.
Today's thought for the day... Patience is needed with everyone, but first of all with ourselves.
Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if its just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away...
So we have had a crazy weekend. The Halliburton Christmas party was on Friday night. It was nice, but speeches were way too long. And the entire time we could hear the music thumping from the party next door. Those people at World Health Club know how to have a good time. They had a disco Christmas party. How cool is that? We crashed it after dinner was over. There is something about dancing to Funky Town in an evening gown that is just way too much fun. We had a dinner party at my friend Christine's on Saturday night. I finally saw her gorgeous engagement ring and she asked me to be her maid of honor at their wedding in August. I'm so happy for her. She's one of those people that just never has anything work out in their favor. And she's starting to turn her life around, so I'm really proud of her.
Sunday was a pretty big day for us. We volunteered at the Christmas Splendor Feed the Needy banquet and it was a huge success. We fed over 3500 people in under an hour and handed out almost 1000 gifts to the children. Every year, that event amazes me in so many ways. It's incredible how many people show up to help out. Halliburton had a group of 63 volunteers alone. The amount of food it takes to feed all these people is shocking and the fact that complete strangers pull together for an afternoon to pull the event off is really great. The organization it must take to coordinate an event like this just blows my mind. It's really fulfilling to help out and give people food, but at the same time the sheer volume of people who had to attend this banquet to get a hot meal is really sobering. A good friend of mine volunteered with us on Sunday and it was his first time at an event like this. After we were done, I could tell he was just really bummed out. He said is was just way too sad to watch the families coming in to get food because they couldn't buy it on their own. And yes, it is incredibly sad, but one person can only do what one person can do. You can't save everyone at once. You can help by donating time and money. Without that, and without concerned citizens, the situation would be so much worse. So I think that put a positive spin on things for him. I hope, anyways. It's like Margaret Meade said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
I am completely exhausted today because we went to the Crue and Aerosmith last night. Wow, what a show! The Crue was great, because they're always great. Lots of lights and fire and explosions and smoke and best of all....really, really loud music. The best part of the Crue portion.... Home Sweet Home. Vince handed it over to the crowd which was probably a good thing, because his voice just ain't what it used to be. And I'll never get over how cool it looks and sounds when 20000 people are singing at the top of their lungs waving lighters and cell phones. I love it. And it was Nikki Sixx's birthday yesterday too. Very good showing by the Crue. With that being said, I must admit that it was Aerosmith who floored me last night. I've never been a huge Aerosmith fan, but they are amazing performers. It took about 1/2 hr after Motley Crue to tear down their stage and set up for Aerosmith, but it was worth the wait. They had a walk out stage into the middle of the floor and 2 ramps that went up each side. We had seats in row 6 so we got a few close ups of the group. They had no crazy lights or explosions, just a lot of incredible performing. Steven Tyler (no matter how many times I've made fun of him in the past) is so charismatic. It was hard to take your eyes off of him. The crowd was insane, singing every word along with him. He hasn't lost much over the years, his voice will still give you chills. My favorite part of the Aerosmith portion.... Cryin. All I could picture was Alicia Silverstone in that video! It's a classic. And my favorite part of the entire show.... Dream On. That song was the best live performance I have ever seen. Hands down.
Today's thought for the day... Patience is needed with everyone, but first of all with ourselves.
Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if its just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away...
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
At the end of the day...
The end of the work day is drawing closer and closer... It has been an exhausting week. We've uncovered some issues that have been happening for quite some time and I'm afraid the potential impact could be catastrophic. So all of my time and energy this week has been devoted to uncovering what has been going on. It wouldn't be so bad if that were all, but every time I uncover one issue, 6 more pop up. It's a long and convoluted process and I'm afraid no end is in sight. Sigh. I'm tired.
On a brighter note, we had a fantastic weekend! Operation Christmas Child on Saturday went really well. It was my first event that I coordinated as co-chair of our volunteer council and the president of our company came out to show his support. Very exciting.
Here's a picture of the group that came out. We sorted through 11, 020 shoe boxes and got them all ready to ship to Nigeria in our 4 hour shift. Not too bad at all. It's really touching to see some of the items in the boxes. People really put a lot of thought into these gifts. There were a few boxes that almost made me cry! After that, we headed down south to my Aunt's to do her Christmas decorating. Every year she bribes us (as is me, Dave, Tara & Cassidy) with food. And this year was soooooo worth it. She made home made perogies, cabbage rolls, meat balls and the list goes on. It was quite the feast. Mmmmm. On Sunday, we went to the Halliburton kids Christmas party. It was a lot of fun, they do a really good job. All the kids got gifts, there was skating and cookie decorating and sleigh rides. Cassidy loved it. Here's a picture of her 
with her friends Jenna and Braden decorating cookies. Isn't Jenna adorable? She may be the cutest 3 year old I know. Cassidy is trying to show me how red her tongue was from all the Skittles she ate. What a goofball. After the party, we went to see Aladdin at the Jubilee Auditorium. We had really great seats, in the third row. It was so good. It wasn't the Disney version, which I was a bit concerned about but it was really outstanding nonetheless. There was a ton of singing and dancing and thankfully they didn't give Bret Hart too many lines... He's a wonderful WWF entertainer, but not much of an actor. The cast was so interactive with the audience too so the kids got really involved in the show. It was a lot of fun. On Monday, I had a "Festive Ladies Night" hosted by one of my suppliers at Q Haute restaurant. It's the old La Caille on the Bow. So yummy. It may have been the best food I've ever had! And we each got a box of Bernard Callibaut chocolates to take home with us! I think that was my favorite part. Tomorrow is Cassidy's Christmas concert at her school. Friday is my Christmas party. Saturday we have a dinner party to go at a friends house, Sunday we're volunteering at the Christmas Splendor Feed the Needy banquet and Monday is The CRUE!!!!!! Yay. So it'll be another busy weekend but we can cap it off with a visit to Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx. That makes me happy.
Not too much else is going on. Take care everyone!
On a brighter note, we had a fantastic weekend! Operation Christmas Child on Saturday went really well. It was my first event that I coordinated as co-chair of our volunteer council and the president of our company came out to show his support. Very exciting.
Here's a picture of the group that came out. We sorted through 11, 020 shoe boxes and got them all ready to ship to Nigeria in our 4 hour shift. Not too bad at all. It's really touching to see some of the items in the boxes. People really put a lot of thought into these gifts. There were a few boxes that almost made me cry! After that, we headed down south to my Aunt's to do her Christmas decorating. Every year she bribes us (as is me, Dave, Tara & Cassidy) with food. And this year was soooooo worth it. She made home made perogies, cabbage rolls, meat balls and the list goes on. It was quite the feast. Mmmmm. On Sunday, we went to the Halliburton kids Christmas party. It was a lot of fun, they do a really good job. All the kids got gifts, there was skating and cookie decorating and sleigh rides. Cassidy loved it. Here's a picture of her 
with her friends Jenna and Braden decorating cookies. Isn't Jenna adorable? She may be the cutest 3 year old I know. Cassidy is trying to show me how red her tongue was from all the Skittles she ate. What a goofball. After the party, we went to see Aladdin at the Jubilee Auditorium. We had really great seats, in the third row. It was so good. It wasn't the Disney version, which I was a bit concerned about but it was really outstanding nonetheless. There was a ton of singing and dancing and thankfully they didn't give Bret Hart too many lines... He's a wonderful WWF entertainer, but not much of an actor. The cast was so interactive with the audience too so the kids got really involved in the show. It was a lot of fun. On Monday, I had a "Festive Ladies Night" hosted by one of my suppliers at Q Haute restaurant. It's the old La Caille on the Bow. So yummy. It may have been the best food I've ever had! And we each got a box of Bernard Callibaut chocolates to take home with us! I think that was my favorite part. Tomorrow is Cassidy's Christmas concert at her school. Friday is my Christmas party. Saturday we have a dinner party to go at a friends house, Sunday we're volunteering at the Christmas Splendor Feed the Needy banquet and Monday is The CRUE!!!!!! Yay. So it'll be another busy weekend but we can cap it off with a visit to Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx. That makes me happy. Not too much else is going on. Take care everyone!
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