Hi, all. Just a thought to help start your weekend.

The holiday season is underway, and perhaps you’ve already experienced a family gathering or two. My siblings and our families very recently gathered with our parents for a Merry Thanksmas. The grown kids are spread out from Texas across through Alabama and up into Ohio, so it became obvious of the impossibility of many of us being in the same place at the same time for Christmas. So we took advantage of our Thanksgiving Day time together this year and got a jump on Christmas too.

Some changed from fall colored clothes into Christmas sweaters halfway through the day. We ate much more than was necessary. We enjoyed the weather and sat outside for a while. Some played badminton, and my Dad is still sore from playing cornhole with us! Then all of the excitement eventually wound down, families headed back toward their own respective places, our kiddos headed toward their own homes, and it was ever so quiet yet again.

But just before the last one left home over the weekend, we hopped in the car, got take-out food from the local fast food joint, and the three of us ventured across the state line, drove a few miles north, and made our way very slowly through what we call the ultimate Christmas light display spread out on a few acres around a beautiful pond in east Mississippi. Their displays, including the one you see here, always help make the season for us.

Of course, it’s the message of Christmas that really makes the season what it is. “Peace on Earth.” Isn’t that what we all dream of? Isn’t that what God wants for His children? He does promise to provide peace — not the world’s peace, but His own peace.

As you and yours experience the ups and downs, the great memories and the sad ones of this Christmas season, it is my prayer that we all focus on the peace. When the last visiting vehicle has pulled out of the driveway, and the house is almost too quiet again, I’m thankful for the peace that only He provides. Do you know His peace?

Just a thought.’Til later.

 

Rev. Brad Campbell can be contacted at mastah.pastah@yahoo.com.