It's a beautiful day in the Ozarks!

It isn't a warm day, but it is sunny and beautiful!
And as far as the 20th of December goes, I guess you could say that it is a warm (enough) day! It had just topped the freezing mark as I headed out today and it is now 43F (6C) -- plenty warm enough for a day on the motorcycle!

I'm on a coffee break at a Springfield Starbucks. I had a free drink on my card and figured that today was a good day to use it! I have a few things that I need to pick up before Christmas (there's always Friday and Saturday for that) and a couple of things for dinner tonight. It'll be a pork fried rice night at the Ozark Hill's with Hannah and Daniel coming to join us. Aaron will be in pretty late, but I think he's expecting some leftovers. We'll need some more bacon before Christmas morning if we are to have our planned menu of French toast (made with homemade sourdough bread), real maple syrup and bacon.

This was fresh out of the oven earlier today!
One loaf is already half gone. The other will be for Christmas breakfast.

With neither of the kids coming over on Christmas Day and other things going on in our home, we don't have any Christmas decorations up. I think we're both okay with that. We'll have a simple Christmas with just the two of us on Christmas morning and will be with friends (and Hannah and Daniel) for a meal in the afternoon. Our family get together will be over New Year's weekend.

I am actually looking forward to the simplicity of our Christmas this year. Getting to preach in the weeks leading up to Christmas and our choice for simplicity has helped me to keep the focus of the season on the great love that God has for us and the meaning of our celebration -- the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Whether your holiday is simple or extravagant, I hope that you will find the time to reflect on the love that God has for us. Even in the daily struggles where we often find ourselves, God is there. I am at a loss to explain the suffering and pain of living. I only know that it is a part of this life. My hope is that there is more to life than our time on earth; that there is life after death and that through faith in Jesus we can know eternity without further suffering and pain.

You know that I always say --
     God loves you and Jesus died for you.
Today I want you to know that because God loves you, He left behind the glory of heaven and Jesus was born for you! He lived the life of a human and suffered an extremely painful death. He took on our punishment and gives us eternal life.

God loves you.
Jesus was born for you.
Merry Christmas!

John <><