Christmas Time is Here Again

Every year around this time, I am reminded of the true meaning of the season. Love, sacrifice, God's grace, giving. I know you must be impressed that I even remember the truth about Christmas. After all the commercialism that the holiday now evokes, how is it possible for anyone to even have the first clue about Christ's love and birth?? I am as guilty as everyone else...I develop and implement plenty of "holiday" messaging focused on retail extravaganzas. It's sad when Christmas is reduced to snowflakes and clearance sales. Isn't there someway to incorporate the ultimate gift of love into our marketing messages? Are we so concerned that our companies will be labeled as religious, non-PC, right wing, or God forbid...compassionate?!?! Why can't we take one month out of the year to give back, instead of throwing useless merchandise down people's throats...or worse yet, using emotionalism to convince the general public to buy something that don't need, or take a flight they can't afford.

Christmas is a time to reflect on all that we have been blessed with through the year, show those we love how much we truly care, and reach out to those less fortunate than ourselves...the way Christ reached out to our sinful world 2000 years ago.

Merry Christmas

Travels

I thought I would take some time to share some of my Honeymoon trip with all of you. It was a great trip. We cruised for 7 days with stops in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Dominica, Antigua, Barbados, and St. Lucia. It was an incredible trip. This is a shot of St. John (off St. Thomas). This was Russell's first snorkeling experience.


This is a photo of the beautiful waterfalls that we saw during our tour of Dominica. I thought I might pass out and die hiking there (remember the Bachelorette foot incident - see archives if need be). But the reward was worth it...just gorgeous!







This next picure was taken in St. Lucia. This stop was astounding to me. I was ablsolutely horrified and humbles by the juxtaposition of the poor parts of this island against the beauty of its natural state. How amazing that such a beautiful place can also be so ugly. Full of kind people who live in poverty...sell anything and everything they can to the tourists, wash their clothes in the same river that they bathe in. It's all so surreal.