"Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it." - Richard Lamm, former Governor of Colorado

Okay. Here we go again. It's Tuesday, November 19, 2013, and I welcome you to today's edition. I may be on to a new weight loss system, most likely better suited for men. You grow you a beard. Preferably a white one. You get a top of the line Santa suit weighing around 10 pounds. You add another 5 pounds of padding for being able for the belly to shake like a bowl full... I think you get the idea. You than get yourself a gig working in the Houston area, (14 hours of seat time), where the temps this past weekend were around 85 degrees and the humidity was blowing the lid off. Then you set yourself up under some harsh lighting and a long line of folks, so many in fact, they pretty much negated any good the A/C system was doing. There they stood all huddled together as they bravely waited for their few seconds of fame with the Jolly Old Elf. My wife did try to get me to do the before and after weigh in but I figured it was just an occupational hazard and/or benefit depending on how you see it. In my case, the diabetes voice says weight control is one of the keys to managing the creature, therefore, any weight lost is probably a benefit, however, the sweat and sore bones, well, you can keep those if you like.

The event I was involved in was a huge fund raiser for worthy causes and yes, I was a part of pushing Christmas and that was, after all, their holiday market motif. There does seem to be quite a bit of complaining about how Thanksgiving is being usurped by Black Monday through Friday Christmas sales that begin before Halloween. Recently our little Brady actually gave me his thoughts about how they are cranking up Christmas way too early. I know he's heard adults talking about it, but when a soon to be eight year old can articulate a loss that occurs when something as important as Thanksgiving gets pushed aside, maybe it's time to rethink what we are doing. Retail, however, has only one outcome in mind: Show me the money! Individually, we can do what we can to enhance the traditions that we want our children to remember and continue. Meanwhile, get ready for more, not less.

I've enjoyed reading those who are taking time each day to put up an expression of thankfulness about different things on Facebook. This is a November activity and many started out with their testimony of how thankful they are that God reached down and saved them eternally through their response of faith to Him sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the Cross for them. I commend them for putting their relationship with God as the first priority of thankfulness in their lives. And, so should it be with everyone who has ever been saved by the grace of God! I think one of our greatest enemies to our daily walk is when we become forgetful about the benefits we possess as believers. We belong to Him. Nothing can change that. He is with us each step of the way and He will never leave us and He will never forsake us. We have His word on it! (Romans 8:31-39) Amen and Amen.   ....More later.