IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE...HODGEPODGE!

     Today is camel day. How do you like your camels...one hump or two? I hope that your hump day is going well so far. Being hump day it is also time for another Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thanks to our Hodgepodge Mistress, Joyce Daley, for another series of probing questions.
     I urge you to participate. You will not be sorry that you did. In any event, enjoy this weeks offering.

1. What title would you give this current chapter of your life?
      "We Keep Getting Back Up!" Sometimes in life you take some hits. Some of those hits ring your bell, others knock you off your feet, so to speak. A wise man once said that you never lose a fight if you keep getting back up.
     When the hits keep coming, you know, those financial set backs or a bad  report from your doctor, or the loss of a loved one, you keep getting back up.
     SWMBO and I keep getting back up !
  
2. December 6 is National Microwave Oven Day. Who knew? Besides popcorn and coffee reheats, what's the most common thing you microwave? Could you get along without a microwave?
     I suppose the most common thing that we reheat in the microwave oven are all sorts of leftovers. The "radar range" is very convenient but I think we could survive, that is, get along without one.

3. If you could insert yourself into any Christmas carol and experience the lyrics in real life, which Christmas carol lyric would you choose and why?
     My choice is "O Little Town of Bethlehem." I envision myself walking through its starlit streets until I came upon a manger on the outskirts of the tiny hamlet and witness the birth of the baby Jesus, Christ the Lord.  I would love to see that "new parent" look on the faces of Joseph and Mary as they held their new born Son for the first time. I imagine the sound of the heavenly hosts singing "Hallelujah, Glory to God in the Highest! Glory to the new born King!" I also can see in my minds eye the shepherds coming in from the fields to behold that which the Angel told them about, the Savior, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger...with a look of awe upon their faces. What a wonderful experience that would be.

4. Describe the most beautiful drive you've ever taken.
     SWMBO and I are fortunate to live in NH. It is a beautiful and scenic state. The most beautiful drive we have ever taken was a sunny fall day through the White Mountains. We drove through Franconia Notch and the Kancamangus Highway, NH Route 112. The views of the surrounding terrain is awesome. It speaks volumes of the majesty of God.

5. What's something on your Christmas list this year? (an actual list or figuratively speaking, either one)
     I really don't have a Christmas Wish List. SWMBO and I started a tradition when we became empty nesters where we buy one gift for each other. This tradition avoids the whole "I spent more money on you than you spent on me" competition with the attendant bad feelings. 
     For example, one year we bought a new high definition television. Another year we bought new iPads. This seems to work for us.
   
6. Insert your own random thought here.
       One of the things that continues to amaze me at Christmas time is the thought that Almighty God, the Creator of all that has been created, left eternity and lived among us as a human, and a humble human at that.   He subjected Himself to all the laws of physics. He experienced things that are common to all of us. He got cold. He got hungry. He felt pain. He felt love. He laughed. He cried. He was like us in every way except one...He was still God. He was God in the flesh, but He was still God.
     Can you imagine how much love that God must have for all of us that He would do that? I cannot! So, during this Christmas season I urge all of you to consider the spiritual ramifications of the Christmas Holiday. I urge you all to truly keep Christ in Christmas.
     May God lavishly bless all of you!