Holiday Trilogy

What a wonderful time of year!  We hope each of you had a great Thanksgiving, and are now excited about Christmas.  We had Thanksgiving Dinner with some ward members.  We took some food; this wasn't something we took (obviously - if you know me), but I thought it was so clever!

Dang - I took the pic after people had taken some fruit!

Craig and I have spent a lot of time this week talking about the timing of these major Holidays... As I heard on a broadcast a couple years ago, it doesn't seem like the timing is coincidental:

***Thanksgiving compels us to contemplate our blessings - not just the ones we always acknowledge, but the profound gifts that we often take for granted; the ones that really matter.

•      Hopefully Christ and the Gospel are at the top of that list.

***Christmas comes next with it's focus on the Savior.  It is impossible to hear and sing some of the Carols and see Nativity scenes without being drawn to Christ and want to do more to serve him.

•      As our hearts are still so full of gratitude, we are able to focus on His gift, and contemplate what we can give Him?  More commitment to a commandment? A more Christ-centered life?  A purer heart?  More dedication to Church callings? (Specifically home- and visiting-teaching?  Had to throw that in...) 

***New Year's is a time to commit to becoming better.

•      Once we have chosen what gift we can give Him, the New Year, with it's time for renewal and recommitment, comes.  We turn the gift we gave the Savior into a tangible goal to which we can commit ourselves and track throughout the year.

We will end with a beautiful sunset (from our balcony) and our testimonies that we know why Christ came, and we are grateful for our opportunity to share that with the people here in Florida.  We love you all!