In the Spirit of Honesty

In case any of you are imagining London as a sparkling city - its harsh edges softened by the falling of gentle white snow in the crisp moonlight, its serenity broken only by the sounds of the Salvation Army choir in the far distance and the revelries of children playing the exuberant games of youth in the powder of the snow - I thought I should mention that London is too far in the south of England to ever get a decent snowfall.

Christmas cards and Charles Dickens have a lot to answer for.

The view out my window this afternoon

Christmas

Hello All! A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you. :)

Several months before leaving, I decided not to come home for Christmas. Thankfully, a friend at work invited me to join her family for the holiday, and I had a wonderful time with them in London, Suffolk, and Cambridge. I can now confirm that mince pies, mulled wine, and Christmas pudding are all delicious, and that nothing beats feeling welcomed in - especially at a time of year that is otherwise so associated with loneliness. When I spend Christmas with my immediate family, I expect their love. I expect them to be kind, generous, and fun. That alone is a gift, but one of the many blessings of this Christmas was that I knew I had no right to expect any of those things. I found myself praying on Christmas morning for a way to respond because I hadn't done anything to deserve such kindness and generosity, and I was suddenly reminded that that's the point.

We cannot deserve Christ. There is nothing I can do to make myself more worthy of His sacrifice. That didn't stop Him from loving us anyway, and giving to us far more than any of us could have asked or imagined.

In the spirit of Christmas in London,
"God bless us, every one!"