Merry Christmas!

Heaven is not beyond the clouds, it's just beyond the fear.

I have no idea what song that's from, but I heard it on my way home tonight. I haven't decided whether I like the song at all. I know it's not theologically correct. But this particular line stood out to me.

It's true, in a way. In this life, we get closest to heaven through our love, through the trust we place in God, through not letting fears and worries hold us back. We need to trust that His plan for us is good and that He is taking care of us, no matter what we see with our own limited vision. We need to trust His unfailing love for us; trust the tiny baby lying in a manger as a real example, one of the most real, of God's unfailing love for every single one of us.

Gaudete! Christ is born!

A Combination of Christmas Music

Light to the World

Or light up the world. I went to the Trail of Lights in Austin a few nights ago. It wasn't quite Domino Farms (of course, there isn't quite a Domino Farms anymore, not as far as lights go), but quite a few lights and a larger variety of displays than I've seen elsewhere. Except in a Thanksgiving parade. Following are the pictures that turned out best, as, despite having a camera that takes good night picture, I lack a steady hand to effectively use the ability.

The pictures are out of order, as blogger loads them in a strange way, which is none of my doing whatsoever. There are very few pictures of people, which is partially my doing, as I successfully (though completely unintentionally) managed to lose the rest of the group, and was stuck walking around by myself for most of the night. Somehow taking pictures of random stranger just isn't quite the same. In my rush to keep up I failed to take a good picture of my favorite display, one which I think was modeled after the Jetsons, and either way was a wonderful setup of futuristic buildings and Santa in a flying car.

The whole thing was enjoyable and worth seeing. And that's not even counting the adventure afterwards, for which my first thought was, "Cool, it's like we're camping! Only without the sleeping part." I wisely (or so I assume) refrained from actually voicing this thought. But I'm becoming very used to the sort of adventures that other people find unpleasant, which is possibly good, as they no longer phase me in the least. Granted I'd rather go have adventures in Europe. Happily be stranded there any time!