Christmas is over . . . . Or has it just begun?
All is calm, all is bright
This is the second year our little family has spent the holidays in Colorado away from our usual traditions and visits with family and friends. For this reason alone, I believe they lack the luster and sentiment of those spent in previous years. Still, I believe the narrator in How the Grinch Stole Christmas said it best with Christmas time will always be, just as long as we have we. Though it was just us three, we were still blessed.
It seems a bit strange to talk about holidays now that they are over. All the decorations are gone, lights extinguished and there are parking spaces available once again at the shops. Despite this, the feelings still linger – well at least for me they do. I did not accomplish what I had hoped for this holiday season. I wanted to reach out beyond myself and help others. Now that I think about it and put the thoughts to the screen, I realize how cliché this is. It is primarily at certain times of year that we wish to help others the most. Once the ‘season’ passes, so do most of our intentions. Perhaps my lack of time during the holiday season to do anything has presented an opportunity.
For those who subscribe to the Christian/Pagan aspects of the season, Christmas should symbolize a time to practice compassion and promote peace toward one another. For the most part, many of us are successful in this endeavor. We perform our good deeds and once the tree is packed away so are our good deeds for the year – for most of us. I have opted to apply for a Christmas extension. Christmas is just the name I will give it for sake of marketing and promotional value. I just need to commit myself to doing something and this may require some thought. My previous manager who is also a pastor at a church suggested donating my IT services to those in need. That to me sounds like a good idea.
I realize a lot of people read this blog and for that I thank you. I would like to take this moment to give a personal thank you to Marita who has recently brought about a great discussion on my previous post. To Jared, Jared, Reagan and Jacqui, thank you for your patience in between posts. To Jo, please send an e-mail with baby pictures.
To all these people and everyone else, I would like to give back during this extended Christmas season by offering a free website to a nonprofit group. If anyone knows of anyone who is in need, please have them contact me via this post. I am standing by, waiting to help.
Until next time – which I promise will not be three months – I wish you all a blessed and joyous new year.
Ben