Christmas Miracle

Earlier this month and last, the prospect of this Christmas looked bleak. As we are still in recovery mode from our flooding last year, I found myself jumping from end to end and trying to get these ends to meet again. Not an easy task, as many of you can attest to. Anyway, at Thanksgiving, which I hosted with much help from my mother-in-law, my parents and we discussed how we would approach this Christmas. We talked briefly of grab-bag and as-seen-on-TV themes to keep the cost down, but we definitely knew we wanted to trim it down. We definitely value being with family, but lets face it, it's fun to give and receive gifts as it is part of the excitement and tradition.

Over the past month or so, a lot has happened. Victor, my brother-in-law started his career and has begun to contribute monetarily to the family cost, which has helped tremendously. I have been making some headway with this Beachbody business, and soon should have some more coaches joining my team, but I also won the Million Dollar Body Game for November, which yielded me a nice check for $1,000! We have been able to catch up on some essential bills, and I soon realized that besides keeping the lights on and the heat flowing through the house, we would be able to have food on the table and presents under the tree, which really made a difference. I feel very blessed to be in the position I'm in. I have an awesome family, great friends, and much more than most. True, things can and will get better, but it is important to remember that there are usually way more people that are worse off than better, and I pray for those.

We just came home from Bolingbrook, where my parents host the annual Christmas get together, and it was so great to see not only my parents and brother, but my aunt, cousin and her husband and children, another cousin from Texas, and long-time family friends as well. It was a packed house and we had plenty of good food to go around, and the gifts were plenty as well. We ended up having to leave earlier than normal since my wife was working and we had to leave to pick her up, so we left our gifts and took those meant for us with us. When we got home, we opened these and considering these as well as the ones we exchanged among our household, we had a miraculous slew of presents that we couldn't possibly have anticipated. This was basically the icing on the cake as it was such a joy just to spend some quality time with the family. A special thanks to my family for not only Christmas gifts, but for love, support, and for being the people they are and have always been. It is you, the people I love and that love me that truly make Christmas what it is, and I appreciate you.

I'll end with this--I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with joy and love, and I am praying for those who are struggling just to keep their utilities up to date. You must believe that your situation will improve, and through your action, planning, and willpower, it can and will. I wish everyone a prosperous and hopeful new year as we roll into 2010. Thanks for reading everyone! Happy Holidays!