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Dec 11
Posted: under Faith.
Tags: Christmas
Christ was, and still is LOVE
Yes, this is a re-run from last year. But time is getting short and I wanted to get something posted. I hope you all have a wonderful and happy Christmas, and a prosperous and joyous New Year.
Tracy Henness
Dec 08
Posted: under Anecdotes.
Tags: Christmas, party
Last night my wife, Kathy, and I hosted the women’s Bible study Christmas party. Not being a woman, and by inference not invited, my options included:
1) drop in on Darrell (taking him up in an invite)
2) go Christmas shopping
3) act as a waiter
4) disappear to the bedroom to finish up some grading before the next day’s final exam
I hesitated to take option 1 since I had a sore throat and he has two kids, and I didn’t want to risk infecting them. This of course turned out to be a lame excuse since one of the ladies brought her 11 year old daughter, and another brought her month old daughter, so it was two kids at Darrell’s house or two kids at my house.
As for the second option I didn’t want to waste gas so I did the Christmas shopping on the way home from Rock Valley College. Since my wife does the vast majority of our Christmas shopping there’s not much left for me to do. So this quick stop delayed me just enough for my wife to call me and ask me to stop by the bank and then swing over to pick up one of the ladies coming to the party. If I hadn’t stopped to shop I’d have already been home before she called.
The first two options were also out of the question after guests started to arrive. Both cars got blocked in so I had to stay home.
I explained to the ladies later in the evening that I had the option of acting as a waiter, but chose not to on the grounds that I would probably spill something and ruin the evening. They seemed to buy that excuse.
I included option 4 in my actual participation. I helped move furniture, managed coats, directed parking, made myself generally helpful while trying to maintain my relative invisibility, finished my grading, directed traffic out of our driveway, and helped cleanup the house afterwards.
Overall it seemed the ladies had a delightful time. It was good to hear all the laughter in the house (although it seemed loudest while I was alone in the bedroom grading assignments). And Kathy, my wife, seemed please about the outcome of the evening (which was all I was really concerned about). Kathy thanked me for sticking around and being helpful.
Tracy Henness
Dec 25
Posted: under Anecdotes.
Tags: Christmas, Philadelphia, travel
Kathy and I left two days before Christmas to visit our daughter Karen in Philadelphia. Since she lives in a studio apartment she arranged with her landlord to let us sleep in his RV which he keeps parked behind her apartment. He left the keys with her, and she went in earlier in the day to turn the heat on low in preparation for our stay. When done she locked it up and went about her daily business.
She works at the Philadelphia airport, and since we were flying from Chicago – O’Hare to PHL she planned to wait there for our arrival after her shift. Since the weather had turned snowy before our scheduled flight it was delayed. The original 4:25pm departure was changed to 4:40pm. Not too bad. Then 6:05pm. Still not bad. Then 7:15pm, then 8:15pm, then back to 7:15pm, then again to 8:15pm. We finally took off about 9:15pm.
Karen also works at McDonald’s and was scheduled to work at 5:00am the next morning, so she called in because she knew she would be getting to bed quite late after an already long day. She didn’t know just how late that would be.
We arrived about midnight Philly time and had to wait till about 12:45am for the luggage. We then began the long trek to her apartment. Since she works at PHL she was parked in the employee lot to which they provide a shuttle. We weren’t aware just how far that was, so we experienced the long shuttle ride she takes every day that she works. From there it is nearly a 45 minute drive under normal conditions. These weren’t normal conditions. The roads were icy and slick. The emergency responders were kept busy with numerous traffic accidents. Some multi-vehicle accidents were causing the shutdown of several sections of major roadways. Although Kathy and I both felt a little uncomfortable about how closely Karen was tailing the vehicles ahead of her, we didn’t want to nag her since we understood she was anxious to get home, well actually more so to get something to eat since neither she nor I had had any sustenance since lunch. She pulled off the main route to head toward a place she knew would be open during the wee hours of the morning.
Then the excitement began. On a curve she hit a patch of black ice. She fought to keep from sliding too close to the parked cars on our right. I was sitting in the back so I was more aware of Kathy’s reaction than of the actual predicament. She was in the front and could see clearly what was about to transpire. I said, “Don’t overcompensate.” She crossed the center line after successfully avoiding the parked cars. But she didn’t relax even though there was no oncoming traffic. Again I said, “Don’t overcompensate.” But she was more concerned about getting back into her lane. Then the back of the car began to swerve outward and the front of the car struck the driver’s side door of a parked car. Karen’s car then spun on around until it came to a stop facing the direction we were heading. I had her pull on over to the curb and call the police.
Of course the police were quite busy and we had to wait a long time. As we sat there waiting several vehicles hit that same patch of ice and lost and thankfully regained control. I wondered whether we were safe sitting there but didn’t say anything to that effect. As the police finally approached they also showed some difficulty maintaining control on the ice patch. They asked very few questions about the details of the accident. However, since the car is still registered in our name they noticed we were from Illinois and commented that we should be used to driving in this type of weather. I replied that we generally get snow rather than ice.
Since the front bumper of the car had previously been damaged by a botched attempt to tow it, and had not yet been repaired, Karen’s car suffered only minimal damage. The lower panel of the driver’s side door suffered obvious cosmetic damage and the car slid sideways till the front tire on the passenger side was pressed against the curb. Thank God no one was injured, and neither car was disabled.
After getting the accident report filed they sent us on our way and Karen wanted me to drive the rest of the way. She gave up on the idea of stopping for something to eat. So the rest of that trip was uneventful. But when we got to the RV we couldn’t get in. We tried unsuccessfully for quite a while to get the door open before giving in to the option of sleeping in the apartment, Kathy and I in Karen’s bed and Karen on the couch. We slept late into the morning, though none of us quite soundly. Then we went out to eat breakfast. Karen decided to go to Denny’s, but when we got there we found a note on the door that their water pipes had frozen and burst, and were therefore closed. We then ventured to IHOP. It was nearly lunchtime by the time we got there.
After eating we went shopping for supplies (hardware, insulation, shelving, etc.) for the apartment. The rest of the day was spent assembling, hanging, winterizing, and generally wearing ourselves out before an early bedtime.
Tracy Henness
Dec 09
Posted: under Faith.
Tags: Christmas
Some who would criticize those of us who continue to wish others at this time of year a “Merry Christmas”. They reason that there are many religions that celebrate something at this time of year, but they don’t want to think of it as a Christian holiday. And so it would not be politically correct to wish someone a “Merry Christmas” if they don’t believe Jesus is the Christ.
But we recognize that the very reason the holiday celebrated on December 25th exists is in commemoration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, born to Mary, conceived while she was espoused to Joseph, of the lineage of David. When Joseph found out the Mary was pregnant, he decided to break off the engagement privately rather than make a public example of her. But an angel from God appeared to Joseph in a dream to instruct him to take her as his wife, “because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus (from the Hebrew meaning “Salvation of God”), because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21 NIV)
That is what we celebrate. He will save His people from their sins!!! If we don’t wish the people who cling to other religions a “Merry Christmas”, then we in a sense show that we do not care whether He saves them. But we do care. We do not wish anyone a “Merry Christmas” to criticize their faith of lack of faith, but to share the hope of the salvation Jesus was born to promise all God’s people.
Merry CHRISTmas to all without exception.
Tracy Henness
