I love December

This is my favorite time of the year because I love most things associated with December. Many places are decorated festively and Christmas music can be heard almost anywhere you go. Last Sunday Wayne and I had a date night. We had some gracious friends keep Micah while we went to a fun Christmas program at a close friend's church in San Francisco, then headed down to Union Square in downtown SF for the annual Christmas Rock which was a time of singing Christmas carols led by a conglomeration of very talented musicians from churches across the bay area. It was a beautiful thing to walk down the sidewalk (on the way to the Rock) with my coffee in hand and hear "O Holy Night" echoing in downtown San Francisco. I love the music and love the fact that we are celebrating our Saviour's birth. I also love December because it means we get to spend time with our families who we have only seen twice a year since we have lived out here. So, we head off to Oklahoma to be with Wayne's side of the fam on Sunday. We'll be there for a week and then travel down to TX to be with my side. We are looking forward to a restful, peaceful, joyful time.
Some of you know that we are moving 3 days after we return from the holidays. I won't go into a lot of detail about the situation, but I will say that the last 5 months have been quite frustrating and stressful as our downstairs neighbors have not liked us since the day we moved in. So, for our peace of mind and so that Micah can be free to move as much as he wants, we are moving to the next building over on the bottom floor. I have felt much frustration as we have dealt with this. Even in this situation, God has taught me some things. I am almost finished reading "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom. When she and her sister are in prison, Corrie makes reference to one of the stiff-faced, hateful guards. Her sister tells her that people who have been taught to hate can also be taught to love. Corrie says "I saw a gray uniform and visored hat; Betsie saw a wounded human being." We haven't had a great deal of face to face contact with our neighbors, but I feel like they are wounded and have probably only known hate and anger. So, if you think of it, you can pray for our future dealings with them and pray for their hearts to soften.