Our kids are home at the Village. 

Over the past few weeks we took an epic car trip from Tennessee to San Diego and back, stopping to see our older kids in Wichita and Mesa, Arizona along the way.  We met our son, Jonathan, who was finishing his truly epic 4,000 mile charity bicycle ride from Virginia Beach down the East Coast to Florida and across the USA to San Diego.  http://nuttyputtycyclers.com/updates

While in San Diego, we enjoyed seeing old friends and family and meeting new ones.  I downed the biggest burger of my life at Hodads in Ocean Beach and relived memories of my youth surfing.

On the return, we routed through Provo, Utah where we picked up our daughter from BYU and drove straight through, no stops, rotating drivers.

Whew!!!  We’re home.  We miraculously missed the Eastern severe cold and snow that happened while we were enjoying 85 degree weather in San Diego.  And, we dodged another bullet, returning home as Southern California is being drenched in record breaking rain.

Yesterday brought us all back down to earth as we were priviledged to help pass out huge boxes of food to the needy at the Grundy County Food Bank.  I had the best job, walking customers to their cars, pulling large carts bearing food and re-packing it into their cars.  It gave me the chance to listen to their stories.  One very elderly lady made my day when she told me how grateful she was to all the volunteers who made life possible for her.  Another younger woman with three kids had recently found housing.  She is a registered nurse who had been rendered homeless after a car accident that left her incapacitated, unable to work. 

As I worked, the thought occurred to me how wonderful is this country we live in!  Even where there is great poverty, I witnessed plenty, where great quantities of food were contributed from abundance by local merchants (including Walmart and many smaller contributors) and many local citizens turned out to assist in its distribution.  Each of some 300 families left with enough food for close to a month.  How wonderful!

There is still so much good in people and in the world.  My heart sang and my spirits were lifted.  Merry Christmas to all! 

Thanks to my dear wife, for getting us involved with the Food Bank.  She is the heart and soul of Christmas, not to mention my life.