I was a good sleeper and an early riser when I was young. May be it was genetic, may be subsconsciously, I like
the hour of solitude. My siblings used to say they played a gong beside my ear when I was asleep and I responded like a dead person.



I still like to go to bed early, but I don't need to sleep as long any more. I wake up in the wee hours. At first, I was quite up set by the change of the routine in my body. Then I tried to fill in my time by talking to God and reading. By and by, I love this change. I start my day with the Lord's prayer, which helps to rein in my thought. I try to praise the Lord and recount His goodness, which is the hardest part to do, because the devil likes to murmer beside my ears and bring up all kinds of accusations about this and that. Sometimes, if I am not careful, I would be led astray to dwell on the problems. I need to fix my thought on Jesus with my spiritual eyes. To imagine his kind face, his glorious state, his power over darkness, his magnificient strength that can hold up all the troubles in the world. Any worry or burden I have become like little pin cushions in his sight. I can feel like an content infant resting in his arms. I can throw any questions at him and ask him to help me to resolve them. More often than I expect, he pops the answers into my head just like that. Oh yes, if I have wrong, he let me know too. But he is a gentile Savior, he leads me back to the path of righteousness by giving me hope, for he had already
paid for my sin with his own suffering.

This morning, a song which I learn when I was a child, came into to my mind ( of course, I had little clue what it meant until after many years.)-


What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sin and grief to bear.
What a privilege to carry,
everything to God in prayer.
O what peace we often forfeit,
o what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptation?
Is there trouble any where?
We should never be discouraged,
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness.
take it to the Lord in prayer.















Are we weak and heavy laden,




cumbered with a load of care?




Precious Saviour, still our refuge-




take it to the Lord in prayer.




Do thy friends despise, for sake thee?




Take it to the Lord in prayer.




In his arms he'll take and shield thee,




thou wilt find a solace there.

Another Christmas came and went. My celebration started early at the beginning of the month by attending Hadel's "Messiah" and even singing with them the "Hallelujah" chorus. It really empowers the audience by visualizing the day we will meet Him face to face.



I dicided to take a rest from the Christmas trappings - No tree, no light decoration; little gift wrapping; no turkey in the oven or fuss over food and then the big clean up. We celebrated with an ethic church whose hospitality surpasses any of the western church, they prepared scrumptious dishes and did not let people go home until mid-night. They mixed in a lot of spiritual food during the celebration too.

I went with others to visit new refugees into the country before we headed out to our son and his wife. We experienced how children felt when their tired parents had to do the entertaining. It was good for our souls. We listened to two good sermons on Christmas eve and Christma day. Though we questioned beforetime if it was necessary to go two times within 24 hours. After we came out, we had no regret.

I also resisted all temptation to invite people home for meals which usually took up a greater part of my holiday (including the mental stress.) So, yesterday, having overcame one last temptation of entertaining, I went out with a friend who is a new immigrant but a very dear lady, to a Heritage Village for a heritage Christmas, where they had free program for the whole day. We saw the harder life of the early settlers, but with much fun which cost so little to the pocket and to the environment. We sat and listened to a beautiful harpist for over an hour playing Christmas songs and Celtic songs. The interesting thing is, most of the audience were from ethic groups and she explained her songs to us very kindly with a broad smile, as if we had the background and the musical knowledge to understand her. The atmosphere was mesmerizing in that tiny chapel. The last best thing of this Christmas is, I have time to prepare for different projects for my work and for my volunteer work, which is what I am better at.