Reality Check with Ann Downing...

Reflecting a bit today.  I have to admit that each year I do that a lot about this time in December. Growing up on the cotton farm meant we worked hard (I mean HARD) from March through November - in the field around the barn - all of the place. (Of course Daddy's work in feeding the cows and mules, and on and on and on, never stopped).   About the second week in December things started to move towards playing and fun. Since we had gas heaters, we couldn't get that cedar tree tooooooo early or by Christmas Eve it would be brown and drooping!  But when it was time, Daddy or Mama and I would head out for "tree searching".  Usually, Daddy had already eyed 3 or 4 prospects along the pasture fence rows. The "right" tree would be cut down and anchored in a big pot filled with mud (anybody know about that?). Getting those ornaments out, many of them very old, was such a fun search.   The tree was just what it was....one of God's creati...

So, today is my birthday.  As I was growing up, I remember hearing my grandparents, parents, and other adults talk about how quickly the years passed the longer they lived. That was a foreign concept to my young mind.  Since I have a December birthday, it seemed like it took FOREVER for my birthday and Christmas to roll around year after year.  Now, some ?? years later :)... what seemed so foreign as a 9 year old child is now strangely familiar.  A year still has twelve months, the months still have the same number of days, but as my Grandma said this morning as she wished me Happy Birthday; "It seems a year rolls by in six months!"  I agree.  Didn't we just pack away the Christmas decorations and find a place for all the unique little treasures we received? As we enter the Christmas season, I'm reminded of the beauty of the greatest gift ever given.  I don't know if Jesus was actually born in December, but we celebrate Hi...