X-Mas 04: Special Report

"The Lord gives and the Lord takes away." Dang right He does. Guess what my parents gave me as a gift? The freakin' Star Wars Trilogy DVD Box Set - in widescreen! I found myself hugging the box and staring at it. Such joy.

But yes, the Lord takes away. Guess what happens just a few hours after receiving the gift, just as I inserted Disc 4 (Special Features) into the player? THE PICTURE WENT OUT ON OUR CURTES MATHIS 25" SCREEN TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it was only two years old. Yeah, millions of my brothers and sisters are suffering for their faith year wide, celebrating this sacred day with the shadow of death and torture around them, and my biggest complaint is that my TV is broken. Yeah, yeah. Reality check. But hey, the DVDs are now mine, my own, mmyyyy prrecious.

Moving on, this edition of The Rime comes from the lovely Klein homestead, here in frosty Overgaard, AZ. The Kleins are like a beloved second family to me. Tad, the eldest heir, is about a year or so my senior, and could be the best of all possible friends. We've known each other since I was in my High School freshman year, and he in his sophmore. God's brought us through a lot together. Allison is stuck in the middle, and I've seen her grow from just being Tad's little sister into a beautiful young woman who's bursting with promise for the Kingdom. She's a fantastic athlete in the fields of volley and softball, and more so then in physical training, she has been refined in the fire's of life and I hope and pray that she continues on the path on which God's set her. The youngest is Shawna, and comparing her to the Shawna I met when I moved here in 2000 is a stark contrast. She was in 5th grade then. This past August, she entered Moggollon High School. Yep, big change. The Klein parents are great too. Duke and Kate are true servants in the church, and exercise their talents well.

The moral of the story: Christmas is so much more then presents, it's also about communion, with each other and, of course, with God, who has done such things to His glory. We're on a journey together, as they say at Sojourn Church, "till Christ is formed in us." The church catholic is also the church militant. We're an army-family. So............................

Foreward march.