Vielä vähän tätä vuotta...

Tämä blogin pitäminen on jäänyt lähes täysin - eikä varmaan juuri kukaan täällä enää vierailekaan, kun ei luettavaa ole ollut. Mutta kirjoittelen nyt kuitenkin, tässä vähitellen menneisyyteen nilkuttelevien joulunpyhien päätteeksi. Huomennahan on taas aika mennä töihin.

Edellisen merkinnän jälkeen on tapahtunut paljon ja samalla ei mitään. Ehkä juuri siksi, että itselle merkittävät, tapahtuvat asiat ovat niiiiiiin henkilökohtaisia ja syvältä koskettavia, ei tule julkaistua ajatuksiaan. Ei kaikkea kuitenkaan voi jakaa kenelle vaan.

Pidän täällä itse itselleni peukkuja ja käsiä kainaloita myöten ristissä, että joskus lähitulevaisuudessa alkaisi aika, jolloin jaksaisin kirjoittaa enemmän. Aika, joka liikuttelisi sisimmässä ajatuksia, joiden julkituleminen olisi mielekästä...

Mutta nyt se aika ei vielä ole tässä.

Joten.

Mutta silti vielä eräs juttu.


Olimme Roopen kanssa jouluaattona pukkina ja muorina kiertämässä muutamassa kodissa. Yleensä pukki näkee vain yltäkylläisyyden täyttämiä koteja. Meillä oli etuoikeus nähdä pari muunkin kaltaista, sellaista, missä taloudellisista syistä ei yleensä pukkia käy... ... ... Tulin kosketetuksi syvältä.

Joulu on epäreilu. Onneksi Joulun Sanoma ei sitä ole, vaan on tasavertainen kaikille.

Siunattua päivää sinulle, joka tämän ehkä sittenkin kävit lukemassa.

Iguana Christmas

There is just too much going on in my head - so rather than trying to put it all here, I say nothing. :) Or maybe just a little...

Our green iguana had a nice Christmas, as you can see from the pic. So did the rest of our animals - and us humans. As I have already mentioned, Roope and I worked all Christmas. But that was really nice and we did have a good time with the kids.

New Year 2009 is on its way, not too far anymore. We are waiting for some friends to come over and will enjoy some good time with them as the year changes. Until the next year. Be blessed, you all, whosoever, are reading!

Enkelit lentää liihottaa

Tänä jouluna pihistellään lahjojen kanssa, näin on sovittu. Omatekoisian ei kuitenkaan lasketa. Siispä... Kuvassa on yksi viidestä meillä syntyneistä enkeleistä, jotka tässä joulun aikana lähtevät uusiin koteihin.

Kuvassa oleva on se, joka on tehty isälleni ja vaimolleen Iirikselle. Koskapa he viettävät jouluaan Teneriffan lämmössä (juu, lähes kuolen kateuteen), muuttaa tämä yksilö tosin vasta myöhemmin... :) Mutta hyvää joulua vaan heillekin!

This time of the year

Peace and Good Will... Sure, that's what God had in mind when He gave His Only Son. We, humans just are so talented in making "good use" of God's great gifts and somehow things always get a bit twisted, a bit "not quite so". By now, most people are somewhat stressed by the fact that not all presents are bought, or they forgot to send someone a Christmas card, or they have not had the time to clean up the house nor decorate it, or that the money they thought to spend on Christmas has gone to pay the bills, etc. etc. We all know it - peace seems to hide from us and under stress Good Will sounds more like a movie title than a reality in our life.

However, it IS Christmas time, the favorite time of the year for many. I don't mind it either, as there are things that make it enjoyable.

I love Christmas decorations, and I just love the fact that it is my responsibility to decorate at work. By now I even have had the time to put up something to our own front door. Every time I come home at the dark, it shines a little bit of Christmas into my heart and mind...

Yesterday evening a little bit bigger piece of Christmas was given to me. Pelle, our donkey, had a role in a local Christmas celebration. He was the donkey (wow! Who could have guessed??) in the Christmas story presented to people of our "village". He did well and everyone just loved him. "Is it a REAL donkey?" was asked quite a few times. Pelle enjoyed all the pats and scratching, and even amused the folks by a couple of I-OOH's, the typical donkey hellos. Too bad I did not have a camera with me!



And I AM dreaming of a white Christmas. The little snow we have already make a great big difference; it is not that dark as the snow reflects the light. However, the snow has come and gone and it is awfully slippery everywhere. There is no way we could ride or drive our hooflings at the present time. So, we are praying for snow, good 10-20 centimeters of it. At least. THAT would be something!

Is it Christmas already?

Already for a few weeks the shops have been bringing out Christmas stuff. It seems like every year that happens earlier and earlier. In my opinion, it just wears all the fun out of Christmas. Byt the time Christmas is here, everyone (except the little children) is tired of it!

Tonight, at work, I had to make invitations for our Christmas celebration and ended up roaming through some old pics because of that. I found a photo of a manger- setting I had put up last Christmas here at work. It reminded me of the nights I stood up, when children were sleeping, and watched the dim light of the manger. I was quite pleased with the setting back then - and still do think that the ray of light highlights the idea wery well...

And I began thinking it over. No, never could I be tired of CHRISTmas! It is an important part of the Greatest Story of all times - about how God chose to seek and find us, the lost. If only it could be possible to keep one's mind on the Main Thing, and not to be distracted to believe it was all about spending money and stressing about "having it right"!

This year, for the third time, we will spend our Christmas at work with Roope. And I am glad we do! Because it is not about what we can GET out of it, but what we can GIVE. And the most important thing to give is not the presents but presence!