And So It Begins~~

Welcome to my New Readers!

My little photo blog started out to be open to family & close friends only while I was trying it out. I was concerned people who only knew me as "Al's Wife" would think I'm a little wacky. But now that he's let the cat out of the bag, let me welcome you to a little corner of my world. One thing you might be wondering about is, who is this "Joe" I sometimes refer to???? That would be Albert J. His middle name is Joseph and the family has always called him Joe. (Now, don't you start calling him Joe...he probably won't answer. Besides, that's my special privilege:) After we married & moved to Illinois, his new boss called him 'Al' and it just stuck.

And so it begins.....the Christmas season, that is. Are you ready? Christmas is something like my semi-annual gym pilgrimage (see October entry "Hope Springs Eternal"). I have marvelous intentions. Big plans! All decorating done the weekend after Thanksgiving. (btw: I did get 2 trees up this weekend - score!!) Cards in the mail, handmade of course, by December 1. Shopping done by the 15th. Special hand crafted gifts, naturally. Baking, baking, baking! Afternoon teas with my special holiday tea sets. Entertaining every weekend.

Such an ambitious list. Guess what actually gets done? Right! Very little of it!!!! But here's the beauty~~are you ready to know the secret?

It's the Season of Hope. It's fun to dream and plan, but if you can't do it all (and you can't) it's OK. Your worth is not determined by this one month of the year. There is no grade, not even a pass/fail. No one is keeping score, so don't you dare put that on yourself. If you do, you'll miss the whole point of this beautiful time.

Do you see that tiny red berry in the picture above? Faith smaller than that, in the precious blood of Jesus, makes you white as snow in God's eyes and you immediately begin your eternal life. That's what it's all about. No baking required.