Christmas eve..

They've been predicting snow for at least a week now, but so far it hasn't snowed here in Kirkintilloch. However, it snowed on the hills so that for the past couple of days I've had a beautiful view of the snow-covered hills out my back window. Today, I didn't really have any kind of view at all because the weather was really ugly...just a lot of rain, heavy winds and thick clouds covering any kind of view. It was the kind of day where a person ends up drenched after just walking down the street.

The fire in my apartment is going though and a wintry day like this really seems just right for Christmas Eve.I went Christmas shopping today and yesterday. It was great! Pushing and shoving and lines long enough to read novels in while waiting! Utter chaos, noise, and shopping fatigue at the end of the day after carrying heavy bags through the rain. Some people say they wish every day could be Christmas, and I guess that would be ok, but I'm glad every day isn't the day before Christmas. That would surely kill us all!!!

I just recently had a visit from my parents. They were here for 12 days and left yesterday morning. I still had to preach a couple of times and finish my work at college while they were here, but I did get a chance to take them for a bit of sightseeing. One night, we stayed in the Hawes Inn in South Queensferry. It was great! It's right by the Firth of Forth with a beautiful view of the water and the two amazing bridges that span the firth, and the flavour of the little town still reminds one in many ways of another day.

The Hawes Inn is the same inn which was used in Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped and was the very place from which he wrote it.Things haven't all been good around here. Fiona, a young lady from St John's church in Linlithgow where I was last year, died this week of a sudden heart-attack. She was only in her thirties and left a husband with three young children. Everyone at St John's is in shock, and I'm a bit shaken up myself.However, life goes on for the rest of us, and I'm planning to make the best of this time with friends as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Tonight, we have a carol service at the church, and tomorrow will be the Big Day itself...turkey and all the trimmings, mince pies, and tons and tons of food; special times with people we love; and most importantly of all, the celebration of the gift of life we have in Jesus Christ.