Happy Holidays

I’m not the only one dismayed at the Happy Holidays sentiment. I imagine most cashiers who wish me this do so because they are required to. WWJD? I don’t think Jesus would reply with a spiteful “Merry Christmas.” This whole mess has made me appreciate when someone says Merry Christmas to me. I certainly make sure my Christmas card says Merry Christmas and not Happy Holidays. Not sure why people go crazy with the outdoor decorations. I do appreciate seeing a nativity scene in someone’s yard. Lots of people go overboard on the Halloween decorations as well.

I had to closely re-read Denison’s column. He backed up what he said with scripture, but really didn’t take a stance except to say that Christians should seek guidance from the Holy Spirit: So, how should we approach the "Merry Christmas" debate? Here's my advice: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how he wants to use your words and witness in engaging non-believers today. Ask for the sensitivity to respect the beliefs of others while stating your beliefs clearly and boldly. If the Spirit leads you to wish someone a Merry Christmas, do so with sincerity and grace. If he leads you to defer, be sure you do so only out of sensitivity to them and not from a lack of commitment on your part. Here's the larger lesson behind this simple subject: We are called to be Jesus' witness in the power of the Spirit every moment of every day (Acts 1:8).
 

Denison does say: Requiring Christians to say "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" feels to many believers like a depreciation of their Savior and their faith. If we should avoid offending non-believers, why is it acceptable to offend believers?

RAMS: Former RB Eric Dickerson was miffed Jeff Fisher turned down his request for sideline passes for his entourage. Now reports are calling Dickerson one of the “greatest Rams ever.” Certainly the most talented Ram RB that I can remember, though he may have been outgained by a longer-tenured back like Lawrence McCutchen. But based on his nomadic and tempestuous career, as a Ram Dickerson remains a tick below Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones.

BOWLS: I am hearing a lot about loyalty (or the lack of it) every time the subject is brought up. I agree, the players should play. Perhaps that says something about football being too brutal of a sport if a player skipping one game can make a difference. But coaches aren’t loyal. The Houston coach left to coach Texas. Seems like even the players understand when another teammate quits to go pro.

Does this mean seniors will stop playing in bowl games as well? You know the priorities of the Tennessee running back who left the team because he wasn’t happy. He wears his priority on his jersey – number one. That’s a number that should be banned.  

Why they have bowls:

1. Programming for ESPN

2. Tourism dollars for the city, hotels, and restaurants.

3. Extra practice time for the teams.

4. Another game the fans can attend/watch.

UGA has more 4 and 5 star recruits (19 or 23 signees) than the rest of the SEC combined.

Shopped Friday night and Saturday night at the Avalon. Late Friday ate at PURE in Roswell. Was just OK. C enjoyed her meal but doesn’t want to go back.

Saturday housework all day. C cooked Mexican for me, Anna, and A’s friend. A and friend had parties both Fri and Sat pm. M worked Fri and Sun. He had a sleepover band practice Fri pm.

See the end of the Celebration Bowl? Grambling up 10-3. NC Central scores to make it 10-9. The player who scored exited the end zone and was out of bounds, then he took off his helmet – drawing a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. 35 yard PAT was blocked. NC Central attempts an onside kick and recovers, but half the team was offsides. Game over.

See the game in the snow? North Alabama kept trying to run fancy plays, lots of passes. Not good in a blizzard. NW Missouri kept it simple. NWM is in Maryville, MO. As a boy my dad used to sneak into the stadium to watch their games.  

C, A, and drive drove thru heavy rain to Macon for Christmas dinner with parents, sister, brother, niece, etc. – eleven in all. Lots of chitter chatter – kind of overwhelming at times. One person would be talking and someone else would just start talking at the same time. At one point there were ten people at the table and there were four separate conversations going on. But it was a good time. Got back home at 9:30 pm.

Monday: Jimmy Johns sandwich for lunch. Worked past six. Soup and salad. C and A watched Pride & Prejudice.

Tuesday: W&MC came over for supper: spaghetti and salad. They took C to Whole Foods, then went to a Christmas party at the Normans. We had to dog-sit.

W&MC spent the night at her grandmother’s, since we don’t have an extra double bed. Their dog Okie wanted to spend the night in our bed with Barney, so I got less sleep than normal. Two big dogs with a total weight of 150 pounds. Got ready for work and went downstairs in socks. Okie had left us a big surprise in the hallway that I almost stepped in. Had to take care of that, plus an emergency at work, and something wasn’t dry so I had to change plans.

Wednesday: Jimmy Johns sub for today’s LONG 2 hour lunch meeting.

Small Group party was good. Arrived at 7:20 and stayed until 9:45. Lots of food. 27 attended – 5 families. Played well in ping pong and Atari football, but lost my fussball game. Afterwards W&MC drove to Cartersville, taking Okie. Barney was so tired that he slept downstairs. When I got up he went upstairs, but didn’t hop in bed. Hopefully he’s ok. May just be tired.

Just found out M has to work Christmas Eve, until 7:30.

After compiling a list of movies a few weeks ago, now I’m working on a list of TV shows I’ve liked over the years.