Winter Wonder land

Its December 23, 2 days till Christmas. Not really a big thing the older I get. Not really a big thing for my son yet so I am not really getting wound up about things. I had a funny thought today, I imagined if God had put the garden of Eden in southern manitoba in december, what would that have gone like. God showing up to find adam and eve wearing clothes and then him asking who told them they were naked and a legthey story about how the human body freezing would ensue. At the moment Doris is in bed with Azariah continuing the wonderful Christmas tradition of being sick at Christmas. Azariah likely has an ear infection. I am confident in his immune system (I helped build it after all), it just sucks getting there. He had his first Christmas concert at church recently. He was a cow. He did a bang up job. Made the old man proud. Every day he seems to evolve a little more. I may have mentioned this, but his admiration scares me. Not that i dont enjoy it, but its the simple fact that i feel like I will either fail it or meet it and die. Odd thoughts I know, but then I have always been odd. I had a neat idea about what I would do for Azariah. I would like to write letters to him about different subjects or struggles he may face and seal them in an envelope. When he wants it he can take it and he can take my advice when he's ready for it. A little aspergurs humour for you. My mother began to tell me a story about a 90 year old man who broke his neck and I exclaimed,"is he dead?" Logical for me, but apparently the wrong thing to say socially. Oh well, cant say I call myself socially handicapped without good reason. Doris and Hildy (My mother in law), and azariah are going to minneapolis for a few days. I am excited for them and looking forward to some quiet time. I have started going back to the gym. Its quite nice to be a little more physically active. Not a lot mind you, just a little. I take a little more protein and I feel a lot better because of it. I realize that my body requires a great deal more work to be proficent, more work than I care to put in because I have been "healthy" and found the benefits lacking in some respect. Ultimately I want to be active so I can feel good about myself and I am working to find balance I suppose I will end with that. Balance is a difficult idea to understand. Everything needs it: relationships, finances, mixtures. I have seen in 2 situations that I can think of where people could not find balance with some mental illness and it faced tremendous consiquences. Evil pours out from the fallen earth in the form of: negativity, pessamism, critical natures, criticism, apathy and despair. I have learned that as a Christian I am to bring the balance. A wickedness exists in all of us and in all our communities. Evil is our natural state, but yet we are not doomed. Redemption affords us the ability to love our friends, family and co-workers (even when its hard). Redemption allows us to hope when all around us is a sad black mass. Redemption from this nature comes through a redeemer. I have always been struck by the lengths the redeemer went to find balance and to love and I wish for myself that I could love with such a good quality and make the world a better place until the Lord comes and changes everything again.

The top 3 pictures were done and edited by my good brother-in-law denley thiessen who as you can see is extremely talented and must be consulted if you want pictures taken by the best photographer I have come across. The rest were from his 2nd birthday. The car he is sitting in was his present from us to him and you will have better luck casting the mountains into the sea then to get that kid out of that car. My dear Thiessens, my beloved Vogt's- our family has sprung from you and your love and affection continues to nourish us. We are grateful for your friendship and love. To you dear reader, I thank you again for your time and faithfulness to read my ramblings and although its a horrible cliche, "I wish you a merry Christmas and the happiest of new years."