Blog is five years old

I can hardly  believe it!  This blog was begun five years ago as a Christmas gift  from daughter Jessica in December 2009.For several months the number of posts per month were few, but I soon got fired up.  I was surprised that politics was an early topic of interest  --with  comments on the election of Scot Brown as senator.

Remembering family and school events soon became the main interest but  when I wrote about Iwo Jima and the role of the USS Pickens many responded.  One was John White, whose whose father  Mike  was ship     photograhper.   John has provided me and others with much information.on the Pickens.                            

We were having a cold winter in 2010 with several snows.    No snow so far this winter but plenty of rain.  What will the next five years look like?  We will take the years as they come.                   

Jessica preached Sunday

Jessica preached the sermon for Sunday services; attendance was good considering the holiday and the cold rain.

I am obviously prejudiced but I think most would agree that the content was outstanding and her delivery was excellent.  She did not use the pulpit, speaking from in front of the altar, a practice she began in Duke preaching class.

Jessica is spending this week in Baton Rouge.  Soon she will return to North Carolina to finish her final semester in Duke Seminary.  After that, she plans to spend a year as a missionary in Israel.

Tis the day after Christmas

You may be among those  who will fill stores today to change gifts because of wrong sizes or because you don't like the gift. Or you may not be in that throng but  chances are you will hit the grocery stores for batteries,  milk and bread, if nothing else.

The day after Christmas is oftener a downer as excitement is replaced by weariness; half the toys are already broken and bills begin to arrive.  Now we have time to reflect on the true meaning of  Christmas -- Christ was born and died to give us everlasting life.

I can remember as a child the let-down feeling that began Christmas night.  We would return from visiting family in Shreveport to a cold dark house.  Cows had to be milked; chickens and pigs required food, and wood had to be brought into the house and a fire started in the fireplace.

For many years, beginning in 1929 when many family members moved to Shreveport, I suppose to search for jobs, we spent every Christmas away from home. I must have been three when in that year we had 11 inches of snow, with a half inch remaining on the ground to give us our only recognized white Christmas.   It wasn't enough to stop us from traveling in a Ford Model-T to Shreveport and back.

Joy to the World with Lyrics Christmas Carol

26 Popular Traditional Christmas Carols w/ Festive Art by Thomas Kinkade

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

How to celebrate Christmas Eve

You are  in the majority if there was just one more errand to run, one more item to buy, one more present to wrap before Christmas Eve is done.  I have a suggestion for your last  gift to make -- an extra contribution to a favorite charity.

This gift can be in addition to one already made or it can be to any other worthwhile organization, including but not limited to St. Judge, children's cancer society, Appalachia, the Indians, Wounded Warriors, blind children, etc.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all.