O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

how funny it is that you make me feel like Christmas is around the corner. I have stockings already hung by the chimney with care ( and monograms). But until that freshly cut down wonder graced the interior of my home it might as well have been June for how close Christmas seemed to me. Now that we have a fire place we are attempting to take full advantage. Last night after getting the tree in the stand we sat back drank our respective coffees and mochas (hot chocolate on steroids) and enjoyed the tree by firelight. There isn't much better. With Christmas fast approaching I have to say God has shown himself to me lately in so many forms. My wife and I have had some trouble picking a church to go to and a direct result of this is the lack of Christ-centered activities. Now don't get me wrong I pray and thank God all of the time for the blessings he has given us but we have recently joined a Bible study and it has literally lit a fire in my soul. I forgot what it was like to weekly brood over the Bible searching through verses and looking for the message. My last run in with this was back in Auburn where the guys and I had a little book club/bible study that really got me into learning more about the Bible and the "background" story that helps so much in understanding it. I challenge everyone this holiday season to read something in the Bible that isn't the Christmas Story (of course read that also) but something else that shows the love of Christ other than his birth.

Secondly I would like to say that I love this season for two reasons.
1. Christmas
2. Bowls, mainly of the college football variety but I will not turn one down that contains food.

I love football and this time of year we get TONS of it. Starting Dec. 19 and lasting until Jan. 8, that's 16 days, there will be 32 bowl games. That's an average of 2 football games a day, BEAUTIFUL! I also found an interesting little site that had the votes for the final Coaches AP Top 25 poll. Each of the 63, well 62 (Jim Tressel is a panty waist), coaches ballots listed and how they compared to the other coaches as well as how each of the final 26 teams were ranked throughout the season.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/graphics/coaches_fb_poll_2006/flash.htm

It's pretty nifty. Well have a great holiday and if I don't BLOG before then Merry Christmas!

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. "
-George Burns(1896-1996)