One memorable Christmas. I decided not to fuss over Christmas presents since there were so much need around us. We might as well just meet those needs. J & T would be going to her relatives both nights and would spend Christmas day with us.

On Christmas eve, I invited a family of six from Kuwait, three from Iran and one from Korea. A real international family. We had BBQ turkey, lamb and all kinds of good stuff. Then we sat around and shared what Christmas meant for each person. A and L shared their personal testimonies how God saved them through dreams and visions in their desperate moments. It impressed on me that it is not how much one knows, but how much one wants God to show forth Himself to us. Then I read the story of the wisemen who visited the holy family, with great enthusiasm, knowing that some in the crowd came from the same region. We sang Christmas carols and had a wonderful time together. E stayed with us that night.

The next day, J & T made brunch. J was disappointed at his harsh brown he was making for us because they did not look like McDonald's. But they got eaten all up between smacking lips. I played '25 Random things about Me'with E . We both like it very much. We also had a nice visit with J & T next day afternoon and a brief time with our neighbor B.

Quote from Wizzard of Oz:
'I don't know enough,' replied the scarecrow cheerfully. "My head is stuffed with straw. That is why I am going to Oz to ask for some brain.
"Afterall, brain is not the best thing," said the woodsman.
"Well, have you any?" said the scarecrow.
"No, I don't," said the woodsman.
"But once I have a brain and a heart also, after I tried them both, I rather have the heart." said
the wizzard.

Quote from the Velveteen Rabbit:
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It is a thing that happens to you. When a
child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." 'Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?""It doesn't happen all at once, " said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That 's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because
once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Unknown quote;
It is not how much one can love but how much one is loved, which matters.