Lights Before Christmas
We took our annual trip to Toledo last Friday to the Toledo Zoo's "Lights Before Christmas" display. It's always a neat trip. The animals are all in bed by the time the zoo opens at night, but walking through a zoo completely covered in all sorts of Christmas lights is so fun that you don't notice that the animals are not on display. There were a few animals out (we saw a polar bear--gasp--you mean they didn't all die from global warming??), and the reptile house and aquarium were open to view the animals there too, but that was it. It was okay though. The zoo was quite busy, due to it being a Friday night, but it didn't take away from the awesome light displays. Last year when we went, we saw these dripping icicle lights (for a YouTube video of what I mean, click
here) and they looked so neat! When we were able to locate them at a store, it was no wonder why we'd never seen them around before--besides being new, they were
extremely expensive. We first found them at
Bronner's, a Christmas store located in the tourist town of Frankenmuth, MI, and they wanted around $140 for a string of 5, and add-on strings were about $120. Needless to say, they won't be hanging from our eaves anytime soon! Oddly enough, our downtown sidewalk trees are decorated with them this year...even though the city couldn't afford to have the leaf pick-up program again this year. Ah, politics.
Christmas Program
Well, the McKinnis house had our annual Christmas program again this year. It was a good time, and it is always a special treat to see the house lit entirely by candlelight. There is a coziness about it that cannot be described, but has to be experienced. We had live dulcimer music, baked goodies, Christmas carols, and a little Christmas tree, cut from the surrounding wilderness. It was a great time, and everyone who volunteered had fun. Please come out to see one of our programs if you are ever in the northwest Ohio area!
Christmas Party
The day after our Christmas program, we had our second annual McKinnis volunteer Christmas party. Yes, it was a busy weekend, because all three of these events took place last Friday-Sunday! It was held at the McKinnis house this year, and probably for the years to come. We had fires going in the fireplace and woodstove, and it was quite cozy again, as a winter storm was dropping snow outside. We had a gift exchange and carry-in lunch, with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, lasagna, ham, cranberry relish, fruits, and a full table of desserts. Yum! The gift exchange, which was a white elephant exchange, had all sorts of neat gifts. I left with a gift basket of homemade goodies--caramels, applesauce, and cranberry-orange bread. Very festive! It was a good time, and I look forward to starting the new year of programs in early March.
With Christmas always come New Year's Eve/Day. I always wonder what the new year will bring--will it be good, bad, sad, exciting? These past few years have been trying, but I feel confident in saying that it will be better this year! But really, it all comes down to our perspective and the faith we have in our God. We don't know what the new year, or future will hold, but God does. Jeremiah 29:11 urges us to trust in God regarding our futures: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." No matter what happens, we should count it all joy, because the Lord is in control of every situation. What a comfort that will always be to me!
