It is that time of year!

This tree has the privilege of being the first tree I saw for this 2018 Christmas season.  It will not be the best or biggest tree of the season, I am sure of that.  Still it will remain for ever the first, I am sure of that as well.  So let the season begin.

This was always the most important time of year in my family, thanks to mum and dad's love for Christmas.  The tree was ever the centerpiece.  Surrounding all the excitement and anticipation was all the activity and the busyness of the end of the year.  That busyness remains the constant.  I feel this especially this week as the season begins and I face three weeks of meetings elsewhere in the region.  This is not my normal pattern.  So as I face what may or may not lie ahead, I keep telling myself - step by step, stay calm and don't go into a frenzy.

At the end, with God's grace, I will still be here, life will go on and what is most important in life always remains most important.