Saturday Dec 20th "Great Friends"

When I was a small child I had a particular relative whose home had a very distinct odor, nothing obnoxious mind you however very noticeable. I can remember one time asking one of the children who lived there if they knew where that strange smell came from, and there response was "what smell?" I came to realize later in life that they had become so acustomed to the smell that they no longer noticed it. I think that if we are not careful we can easily become that way with our loved ones and our friends, we see them so much and become some acustomed to thier manerisms that we unknowingly begin to neglect the relationship. It is at times like this that the importance of those relationships moves directly to the forefront of your mind. It is during trials such as this that you are no longer willing to take anything or anyone for granted. You see we always assume that there will be a tomorrow, another chance to hug, share, or exchange compliments, it is during times like these that you realize the foolishness of such assumptions. Today I went to the warehouse to see how things were going for the Christmas Gift Giveaway, you see for years I have been leading small teams of folks taking gifts and food baskets to those in need. Usualy we give away 30 or so combined gifts and ten or twelve of us gather and go, sometimes we may have twenty folks come alongside. Well this year we had over 150 people sign up to help, we had over 80 people to give gifts to, and a similar number of food baskets. In addition we are preparing a meal and gifts for 50 or so seniors in a low income senior home. As I pulled up there were so many cars parked that it was a one block walk in every direction, and the warehouse was packed with people preparing baskets and wrapping gifts. Tonight I received a report form Pastor Larry David that there were over 1800 cars that went through the drive thru nativity that Dawn has been in charge of for many years. Why do I say all of this you ask? Because all of the things that Dawn and I are normaly in leading or serving in during the Christmas season have continued on, and not only have they continued, they have flourished! They have flourished only because of all of those great people who have stepped up to the plate, our friends, our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ. The events that we love and enjoy doing during this season we were still able to enjoy because of those folks and thier sacrifice and dedication, THANK YOU ALL! I am truly sorry that it has taken such a tragedy for us to realize how much all of us care about, appreciate, and love one another, thank you for showing my family that you do!
As for us, we had a good day, Dawns mom came over and helped out and Dawn looks a stunning as ever, I do believe that there is a healing going on, and what a testimony it will be!