Welcome.

I love Christmas music. Those tunes are sweet to my soul.

Today I was listening to one of Alabama’s Christmas cd’s. It’s a thrift store find. Though I’m not well educated in the world of music, I do appreciate and love music, so sometimes when I’m mulling around inside thrift stores, I look for music. It’s a bit of a gamble, but most of the time, I’m satisfactorily appeased or once in a while, delightfully surprised by the cd’s content.

The southern country sounds of Alabama took me nostalgically back to my own country roots, and I just had a pleasant little evening tonight here at home with Lily and Alabama.

I was especially moved by one of their songs simply entitled “The Blessings.” If you care to have a listen, here is the song:

I love the thought, “I’m much more than lucky.” Boy is he right.

“Food on the table, a log on the fire…”

And he knows from whence these gifts come. Better yet, he pauses to look heavenward in a spirit of gratitude.

He profoundly says, “…when I look around, I can see all that’s been given me.”

That’s it! That’s the ticket! Look around. Pause to see. I love this message for Christmas time.

Our little town has been, thanks to wonderful souls who truly care about making a difference, dotted in red goodness. Light the world signs (large and small) pepper our snowy roadways. They are wonderfully placed, appeal to the goodness in mankind, and invite us to shine a little brighter.

There is one big sign that beautifies a little hill I travel as I make my way to work. It says: “Your gratitude can change the world.” After I read it today for the whatever-eth time, the Spirit simply whispered, “Your gratitude can change YOUR world.”

I instantly loved that.

There was a period of several years, unfortunately, that I lived in way less gratitude than I should have, and my world was dark, bleak, lonely, and sad.

But I don’t live there anymore.

Want to live in a different world? The one that follows you where you go? The one you create?

Then learn to live in gratitude.

It really is the premier catalyst to joy.

Even at Christmas time.

Unto all the world: may your December be a time of heavenward thanks!