“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” ~ John Bunyan

Good morning one and all. Welcome to another day here at The Home Office, on this, Wednesday, December 19, 2018. Yesterday, we volunteered our time to go and be a part of a Christmas party given for seniors by a local ministry. This ministry runs a food bank program and sees after many shut-ins and other needy groups. We arrived there and entered this large hall where they were all finishing up on their special meal. I would guess there were maybe 125 folks at the various tables. You would have thought the king and queen had come through the door. These folks were ecstatic to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. We made our way from table to table greeting each one individually and wishing them a Merry Christmas. They were overjoyed. We then sat for photos for about 30 minutes. It was an amazing opportunity to do a small thing to serve others. The wife said when we left she couldn't think of a more rewarding visit. We did see some tears of joy. They offered us a love offering but we told them to put it back into the food bank. One last handful on purpose. A dear friend of ours brought her niece and nephew over to our house to make Santa pics. The little girl suffers from an extremely rare disease and cannot be around other children. They came and we made some beautiful photos. Later, our friend surprised the mom with the photos and she said when she saw them she wanted to bawl she was so happy. See what I mean? God has been good to us and it is good for us all to find ways to show our love for Him by showing our love for others.

When we finished we hurried home, changed into our street clothes and headed out with our very first grandson to the restaurant to celebrate our Jimmy Jr.'s 22nd birthday. We do love this boy. He's not had an easy go of it, but, he is getting there, with God's provision, one step at a time. It's interesting to hear him talk about juggling his work schedules, dealing with his car, and other 'adult' stuff that keeps him occupied. For me, well, I think about him spending many days and nights in our home and how we had to rock him to sleep each night. He had an overabundance of energy. After running through the house for several minutes to burn some of it off, it was then time to try and get to sleep. I typically did not stay up late because of my early hours into the job, however, I was always willing to make an exception for Jimmy Jr. and I would rock him until he finally went to sleep. We don't rock him anymore but we did our best to help him to have a happy birthday.

This little girl's name is Bryleigh. She is 3-1/2 years young and while she may not be a Disney model making toy commercials, she could be. She is the granddaughter of one of our youngest son's friends. Her grandmother told me they had wanted to do the Santa Experience at Mindy Harmon's studio, but, they seemed always to run out of time. But, this year they did come out to the Woodlands from across town and this little girl made every pose in any and every way she was asked and she did so with a smile. The result? She now adorns two different entrances to the Woodlands Mall in these large portraits. I feel blessed to be the anonymous Santa Claus in these portraits. That's not a bad thing. Santa Claus is a symbol and if one does the job well that symbol gets communicated. We communicated joy to those old people yesterday. Some of them nearly squeezed the stuffing out of my hand. Some wanted a hug. The ministry folks wanted us to go with them on Friday to the 25 shut-ins they serve to bring them Christmas cheer. We couldn't consider it because we have the huge sheriff's charity already on our schedule. We would have loved to have participated in something so special. And, here's my point. This gives us something to think about as we go forward and as the Lord gives us the strength to continue this portrayal. Maybe next time. Have a great rest of this day, and may God bless each one is my prayer. Amen. ....More later.