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Some days driving is about enjoying the breeze.  Other days its about getting where you need to get.  And other days . . .

Our car is a 1998 Neon.  A small car.  A light car.  A great-gas-mileage car.

One thing our car is not?  A car that doesn’t slide on icy roads.

Today I braked as another car slowed in front of me.  At the same time I remembered that I had left a laptop at home.  The laptop was needed for the first task of the day at the office.

As my foot hit the brake, the car began to twist.  As though to return from whence it had come.  I automatically compensated.  Then the foot took the lead.  I needed to go from whence I had come.  The foot returned to the brake.  The car did a swivel.  The road was empty (6:20 in the morning tends to be that way around here!).  As the car slowed to a halt, I shifted gears, turned the wheel and headed back home.

And you thought I was going to talk about having a lead foot that pushed the gas pedal.  Sorry to “brake” it to you!!

As we awoke this morning our discussion turned to reflection.

Neither my wife nor I enjoy making New Year’s resolutions.  Maybe it’s too many years.  Maybe it’s the ability to not be able to predict well.  Maybe it’s the recognition that “only God knows.”

Whatever the reason, we watch out for that type of vow that characterize most New Year’s resolutions.  The type that seem to be set for failure before you begin.

So our discussion turned to the coming year.  We have had much sorrow and hard days this past year.  Not much laughter (I’m not known for being a funny man, but this past year was even less than usual).

What will this coming year hold?  If things continue — the word “sadness” would be a fair characterization.  But we are not asking for the same thing, the status quo, the normal.

Jesus once spoke to one of His disciples and asked him if he knew what he was getting into.  The disciple figured that nothing could stand in his way.  Jesus confirmed that he was going to find out what that “nothing” would be.   That “nothing” was nothing like he imagined.  A martyr in the end — his life became more than he expected. 

Someone has said that JOY is doing what you were created for.  So, regardless of what comes this year — enjoy!!

First off, it’s the Christmas season. 

Which means I start off with a different premise.  This is about a gift given to us before stores had UPC codes and sales tax.  Before black Friday or Boxing Day became consumer holiday madness.  Prior to wrapping paper — more related to swaddling clothes and babies.

Yesterday we visited a new born baby and his parents.  Kale was born on December 28th and stretches over 23 inches!  Hard to imagine a savior that came to earth 2000 years ago that could almost fit into your hand.  No wonder any self respecting philosopher struggles with the flesh and blood of the incarnation of God.

We also visited with my father on his ninetieth birthday (or as my brother so lovingly says — “you’ve entered your tenth decade”).  When we sang happy birthday, and added “and many more”, dad’s reaction was “not too many more!”  There is a place for living here and now, and there is a place for living ready for eternity.  The older we become the more we move towards a new place and a new desire to shed this body and receive a new body.

One final observation.  The snow started to really fall today, pushed by increasing winds.  Blizzard conditions for almost an hour or so.  Then the sky cleared and the expected snow day disappeared.  But, just wait an hour or so, and the wind returns and snow falls.  I’m not much of a forecaster, and the more I encounter the weather the more I’m willing to be an observer and leave the forecasting to more adventurous souls (a compliment to my father who served as a weather forecaster for 25 years).

Well, the 90th birthday is actually here. December 29, 1918 my father was born. The war was just done and another on the way – just in time for my father to be eligible for service (he chose to be a conscientious objector and worked around Waskesiu, Saskatchewan for his “war service”).

Our trip here came through snow and wind. Around a place called Cadillac the worst of the storm appeared. We followed the yellow line (better than a yellow brick road) – sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other. I caught the silhouette of a deer at one point just to my left. And then the road seemed to clear with snow rushing across the tarmac leaving the blackness of the road to contrast the white snow shining in the headlights.

Total time to arrive? From 3:38 in the afternoon (following a church service at our local seniors manor) ’til 7:59. Then evening tea and talk.

Now today we will celebrate with three of us mom and dad, siblings, children, spouses and whoever else may wish to pop in!!