12 Blessings of Christmas

This Christmas was so amazing in incredible ways. As we all came to discover, God's hand was guiding our family gathering in the snow from the time the idea was presented at Thanksgiving dinner in November. Brother Tom kept the dream of a white Christmas surprise alive during the next few weeks and then took the plunge to buy plane tickets for himself, Marti, Amy and Brian. They scheduled their flight for Tuesday Dec. 23rd, the day after Tom's birthday. We had just seen and talked to Tom, Amy and our daughter Erin via SKYPE, an online video/phone the evening before their visit. We had no idea Tom and family were planning a special surprise visit to Friday Harbor. We were covered with 6 inches of snow and giving them a bad time for not coming up and joining us in the snow as we talked on SKYPE.

To make matters very interesting for Tom, SeaTac airport had been shut down for 48 hours due to the unsually heavy snowfall. It appeared that their surprise was going down the tubes as northwest travel was paraylyzed by the white stuff. Tom and family went to bed feeling pretty doubtful that their surprise would happen this year. When the 3 a.m. alarm went off, Marti went to the computer to discover that their flight on Virgin America was going to take-off on time to Seattle. Their 6 a.m. departure was the first flight out of Seattle in two days. Hmmmm! Anyone seeing God's hand at work?

Sure enough, they took to the air and arrived in Seattle to a sea of snow. Now they needed to rent a car and hit the I-5 freeway for the snowy drive up to Anacortes and the ferry ride to Friday Harbor. Nephew Brian took the wheel and braved the snowy road conditions for two hours in time to make the 2:40 p.m. ferry. The side roads were icy and Brian experienced some loss of traction, slip sliding away, in a fast food parking lot, but God's guiding hand kept everyone safe.

Ho! Ho! Ho! "We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas..." This and other Christmas songs greeted me as I opened the door to 4 masked happy carolers, yucking it up. I could not figure out who was behind those masks and neither could anyone else in our house. We were all stumped and confused. Then the masks came off, one at a time, lo and behold, it was niece Amy, nephew Brian, brother Tom and wife Marti. They pulled it off, the greatest Christmas surprise ever.

The Best Christmas continued...

As I mentioned in the previous blog post, this was one of the Best Christmas' Ever. There were many factors that made this Christmas so special. Our son Damon and his wife Lindsey came to visit us here in Friday Harbor from Little Rock, AR, to spend a week with us. By God's design, we were all blessed with a white Christmas. We had so much fun playing in the snow, making snowmen, snow angels, throwing snow balls at each other and generally smothering each other in the powdery snow.

We also had a blast shoe horning 12 people into our home when the Tom Woodwards arrived on Dec. 23rd. The winter wonderland was highlighted by family fun and closeness, something that just can't be duplicated. Our wish and prayer for every family is that they might experience this gift in 2009. The gift of family is one of God's beautiful treasures and He desires that each one of us receive His healing that we might experience family in His love.


Monique, Damon and Lindsey preparing Christmas Eve dinner and Lindsey's family favorite, green bean bundles.

We give God the glory and praise for how He orchestrated this special Christmas 2008. I will speak more of God's guiding hand in making all this happen in the next blog entry.

Masked Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

It has been two months since I've sat down at the computer to do some blogging. There have been several thoughts on my mind to write about but just haven't taken the time to sit down and journal on this blog. If I don't take the time, the thought goes off into space and gets lost for a time. Frustrating! Can you relate?

This remembrance though will be etched in my mind for a long time. The etching carves deeper because my emotions were seriously stirred and emotions, when linked to life events, are the tools of memory makers.

We are enjoying a White Christmas here in northwest Washington; the first one in a long time. As I write on Christmas Eve there is a sprinkling type rain falling, which is threatening the snow dusting which highlights the trees, but I suspect the white blanket of snow on the ground will stay through Christmas.

Now for the surprise; yesterday afternoon, around 4 p.m., for the first time in many many years here in Friday Harbor, Christmas carolers came to our front porch. They were very mysterious because all of them were wearing ski masks. They came with loud boisterous voices, belting out familiar carols but I could not identify the faces behind the masks. There was laughter amongst the caroling and it definitely seemed that they knew me. Who could this be?

My daughter-in-law Lindsey and son Damon, here from Arkansas, and a little boy Adolfo who we were are caring for were the only ones in the house with me. I looked and looked at each face but was completely stumped. Who are these people? I began to suspect they might be some of my son's old high school friends stopping by to say hello. But then, would they be caroling?

The carolers continued to belt out the carols with laughter and joy. At about this same time, my wife Monique and her mother came in the back door to the house. We are all stupefied by the carolers and could not figure out who was behind the masks. Daughters Ellie and Carly were off sledding with friends so we didn't have their help in figuring out the mystery.

Finally, this band of merriment began to take off their masks. Much to our surprise, the voice behind the deep HO! HO! HO! was my brother Tom and his family; wife Marti, daughter Amy and son Brian. Wow! We were all in joyous shock. Merry Christmas! they shouted and we all hugged and laughed for what seemed like hours later. What an incredible memory that has been carved in our hearts and minds.

In my next blog...I'll share what makes this masked mystery even more amazing.