Crazy as Usual

It seems like we have at least one minor emergency every week/weekend. This weekend it was Rebekah's turn. She was changing and brought her clothes down in front of the fireplace to get dressed and "warm up". I had other kids at the table when I heard her crying. She was trying to warm up her backside and leaned back to the fire. Our fireplace is a gas burning type with a glass front cover, but the glass can get quite hot. Well, you guessed it, she managed to burn her bottom. The poor thing was crying so much. I had to apply ice and give Tylenol before she quieted down.

Now comes the hectic, crazy, over-scheduled holidays that we all love. I have to go back to Arizona for some business travel and so will be gone from the family from this Wednesday till Sunday morning. Leslie will be flying back to California the following Thursday the 14th and will be coming back on Monday the 18th. Of course between our trips we still have to complete our Christmas shopping and keep the kids clean and fed! Pray for us.

Despite all the crazyness, we are all looking forward to Christmas. My old friend Colleen will be coming up from Portland with her son Kieth to spend the Christmas holidays with us. So there will be 7 kids and 3 adults gathering around the tree. It allways brings back memories of when we were kids and the excitment comes rushing back. I hope that everyone gets to experience just a little bit of that this Christmas.

On a sad note, I am reminded how unpredicatable life is and how you never know where it can go. I received an email today about a person that used to work for me here in Seattle. I had to let him go last year, but he wasn't a bad guy. The email today was to inform people of his wife's death on Nov 27th. She died either giving birth or shortly after the birth of their first child, a daughter. What a bittersweet event that this birth is for him. My prayers go out to him and his family and I hope that he can find some comfort during the holidays. I hope to enter this Advent Season with a sense of thankfulness for my family and a renewed committment to pay more attention to what really matters. Take Care.....