Monday, December 29: We’re flying back from Kentucky to West Palm Beach today after spending nearly a week with Nicki’s parents and her sister’s family in the Bluegrass State. We hadn’t spent a Christmas in Paintsville, Kentucky—Nicki’s hometown—in years, so we thought it would be a surprise to show up on their doorstep. If you don’t know Kentucky, Paintsville is a small town of 5,300 two hours east of Lexington.
Nicki worked out all the logistics with her younger sister, Angela (Nicki is the oldest of three children), but I can assure you that we really surprised her parents, Don and Janie Tackett. This was also the first Christmas for all five members of our family since Nicki and I have adopted two children, Alexis and Samuel, in the last year. You should have seen us scrambling to find mittens and warm clothes before our departure last Tuesday!
The kids enjoyed the change of scenery, and while it would have been nice for them to play in the snow, it wasn’t a white Christmas in Paintsville. In fact, the weather was quite mild with temperatures in the high 40s below dipping below freezing at night.
A week ago, December 22, we celebrated Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, that began at sundown on Sunday, December 21. We lighted the first candle of the menorah, and I did my best to explain the origins of the holiday to our four-year-old son, Joshua. (In case you don’t know, I’m a Messianic Jew.) We couldn’t celebrate all eight days of Hanukkah, but at least we kept the family tradition going.
Finally, I want to end this blog with something we printed on our Christmas cards this year, and it’s our wish to you as well. It’s called “The Blessing of Shalom,” and it was written by Roy Lessin. Thank you for letting me share this with you:
“May you be whole in body, soul, and spirit as a result of being in harmony with God’s will and purpose for your life. May His peace be your covering, your heart know His fullness, and by His mighty power may you know victory over every enemy. May He bring to pass the deepest desires of your heart.
“May you know the healing power of His presence, and the restoration of every broken relationship. Through His sufficiency, may every need that you face be met by His limitless resources. May His covenant promises be fulfilled in your life and in your family. May He bring you the greatest measure of contentment, and the deepest satisfaction that your heart can possible know.”
P.S. Bummer about the last weekend of the NFL season, which ended yesterday. The New England Patriots, where my friend Heath Evans is the fullback, beat the Buffalo Bills 13-0 on the road to finish 11-5, but the Pats had to have the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins—my hometown team that I’ve cheered for since I was a boy—in order to advance to the playoffs. That didn’t happen, so the Patriots are out. I know, all this NFL playoff is complicated. For sure, Jet quarterback Brett Favre didn’t have it yesterday. (I’m a huge Favre fan and have collected his memorabilia for years.)
Well, now I concentrate my cheers for the Dolphins. You gotta love a team that was 1-15 last year turning things around like Miami did.