Merry Christmas!

This Christmastime, Jarrod and I have had the privilege of celebrating with our vast family, around many different Christmas trees. :)

The Puffenbarger Christmas began on Christmas Eve at Bridgewater Retirement Community to celebrate with our extended Puffenbarger family, including: Jarrod's grandparents (Mom-mom and Pop-pop), and his Uncle Jim, Aunt Brenda, and cousins Daniel and Rachel. We shared a great meal together and had a fun time exchanging gifts and catching up on each others lives... ...afterwards, Jarrod's brother and sister (and their families, of course!) gathered with us at his parents' house for further Christmastime celebrations. We also had a good time of gift exchanges, cookie making, prayer, and even a recitation of "the night before Christmas". The gathering went well into Christmas morning, but we were delighted to be with each other and share the outpouring of Christ's love and our love for each other in this tangible way.

Christmas Morning - Jarrod and I spent together in our own home - for the first time - starting our own family traditions. It was a special time together. In the afternoon, we traveled North for the Cole Christmas gathering at my parents' house. We were met by my Virginia parents, brother Caleb, and sister Christiana, along with my sister's (Denise) family, my uncle Chris and his boys, and my grandparents. Again, it was a good time of catching up on each other's lives, sharing a big meal together, exchanging gifts, and even singing "happy birthday" to Jesus - as was our family tradition before we cut into some "Happy Birthday Jesus cake. :) It is such a joy to be a part of these ever expanding families, and while we are all learning how to adjust as we grow - and our childhood traditions and expectations change - I am reminded this Christmas that it is not about material possessions, what someone gave me or how much I spent on them, but about the love that comes from Christ and the love that we share together in this special time of year. How easy it is to get caught up in all of the activity, the shopping, the get-togethers, the presents, the food... But it is in the moments where we pause and stand hand-in-hand to bow our heads together before the Lord to thank Him for who He is and for sending His Son to the earth that we fully realize the meaning of Christmas.

May you, in this Christmastime, begin to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the Love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:18-19). It is then that you may truely have a Merry Christmas.

As you can see, all the activity sure did tire us out! It will take days to recover!

Merry Christmas to ALL, and to ALL a good night!