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Merry Christmas!
 As many of us gather in clusters of loved ones across the country today...as we perhaps take in the wonder of falling snow, and join in with the laughter of good friends...as we bow our heads over steaming plates full of food...let us remember - the one from whom all blessings, all moments like these, come. God Himself loved us, no - loves us, so much that He sent his son to earth. A baby born to us to take away our grief, our wrongs, our fear, and give us instead, hope, and life, and peace. It is the mystery of all mysteries. Yet in this story, that is so much more than a story, we find all we need for joy and freedom to be ours. God loves...US...me...you...not because we deserve it, for in our hearts we all know we have chosen less than love and life so very many times...yet here He is before us. Life itself. Love itself - small, fragile, beautiful...God laying down His pride and joy to make us new again. Suddenly, we are freed from the need to be more than we are. Suddenly, we find the proof we have longed for to finally believe that we are loved - just because - God is love. Suddenly, we begin to know true love; not something that can be coerced, or earned, or dictated...something that is given from the giver alone. The lover alone. Now we reach out from the inside and begin to love too, not from our need, but from fullness...for our one real need - is to be loved, and that - well, that need we now have fully met in Christ.
Love you all. Thank you so much for your support and friendship over this last year.
Thank you Jesus...for changing my life, my heart. What would I ever do without you - the glow of the firelight from that night over 2000 years ago still warms my heart to this day. May it always be so. May it always be so.
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