And His Name shall be called...

Wonderful.
Counselor.
The Mighty God.
The Everlasting Father.
The Prince of Peace.

I have to admit that the last several weeks I have been having a difficult time getting into the Christmas Spirit, which is unusual for me.  I'm not really sure why that is. But I changed my mind Last Saturday night when  my dad and I went on our annual date to see the Messiah at the Seattle Symphony. 

The first thing to note about the Messiah is that it is unanimously regarded as one of the most important masterpieces in the history of music.  It would be beautiful and inspiring even if the words had nothing to do with Scripture.  But the best thing, the crescendo if you will, is that the words from this masterpiece come directly from the Word of God. 

The whole work is Piercing, Transcendent and Beautiful. 

For unto us a child is Born!
Merry Christmas!

THE FAM

On Sunday, we had a great Christmas celebration with the Lang family.  Grandiose, Good Eats, Loud, Hilarious, Eventful, Top 5 of annual Best Fun list. 
Of course this is my favorite picture of the bunch and I would like to make an attempt to tell you what each person is thinking:

Casey:  I know I'm supposed to smile but...I think there could be a lot sales potential if we make soft close standard in Amero.

Papa: Hey we're taking a picture and I'm holding my granddaughter!

Kyla: Ha ha, I'm with papa and you're not!

Andrea: I hope my children smile, I'll be a good example...

Heidi: I'm so over this picture taking thing

Grandma: Does everyone have enough food over there?

Chelsea: I'm prego and proud!

Pearson:  There's something over there that I want and I think I know how to get it...

Tyler: I'm cool

Loreen:  Chin up, leg bent, butt out, Please no double chin, please no belly pooch..

Amongst all this, we had a time of remembering what Christmas is all about and a time of prayer for my cousin Tony. It was one of the most amazing things I've experienced in a long time. I was telling a friend about this and she said, "well I wouldn't expect anything less from your family." What a testimony to what a wonderful family I have!