Two for One Department

This is not your typical Christmas photo. But it has a Christmas message. See the sunshine ready to break through? I took this dark photo at noon one day and named it "There is Always Hope."


And that's what Christmas is about: there is always Hope. His name is Jesus, the Light of the World.

And for a bonus: if you're suffering from extreme weather this winter, the theme also applies. Doesn't it? It's 0 degrees in Pancake Flats right now! I hope there is hope for warmth.


My First wife and I are going to Chicago this week (where it's warmer). We'll blog again when we get back.

Please accept our warmest wishes for the happiest of Christmases at your home. God bless, and thanks for visiting Pancake Flats this year.

Xtreme Christmas Department

Cliff Morrow inspired this post. He reported that his church had a delightful Christmas Cantata on a night when the thermometer said “Zero!” He also reported that they had plates and plates of Christmas Cookies afterward.

Not to be outdone, I thought I’d report on our church’s Xtreme Christmas held Sunday morning. We have a small church. About three to four hundred attend every Sunday, split up into two services. But for this Sunday, we all met in a Big City Convention Center. The past five years our church has held an Xtreme Christmas service.

During those services, several people are given help with personal needs. Like Christmas presents for the kids; like a couple of months of utilities or rent; like a semester’s tuition; like a half a truck-load of groceries; like Christmas presents for the parents, too. Oh, and we send box upon box of diapers, of frozen meat, of gift cards for gasoline and lattes. And on and on...


This year, we were aware of so many needy families in our community, that instead of wrapping gifts for weeks on end, we gave everyone gift cards to various stores and services. The smallest amount was $350 (lots of those); the highest amount was over $1,000. We were able to help over 140 families. One young lady received an Xtreme Check to help with hospital expenses for her preemie baby, who was born at 26 weeks! way back in September. This week she gets to go home! Yee-haw!

I don’t tell you this to toot our horn. I tell you this because the good folks in our little church gave big gifts to help less fortunate people have a nicer Christmas Season this year. Isn’t it interesting that when you want to help out, you always seems to have a little extra? Where does it come from? Jesus knows, I guess.

We all sang a bunch of carols—and were they ever vigorous! The preacher preached a little—got on TV, too.


Everybody was friendly; nobody was a stranger. One lady stepped out of her comfort zone—out of her grief—on the anniversary date of her daughter’s, and son-in-law’s and grandchild’s Xtremely Tragic deaths. Christmas time has not been pleasant for her the past several years, but she stepped up to the plate yesterday with an Xtreme Smile and welcomed everyone to our service. Just watching her was an Xtreme blessing for everyone. Jesus does things like that for you.

My First Wife and I hope your Christmas Season is Xtreme, too.

And by the way, when our church service started Sunday, the temperature was a balmy 60 degrees. When the service ended two hours later, it was a windy 32 degrees! By nightfall, 16 degrees and snowing! This morning it was 3 degrees! That's Xtreme!

Oh, and please visit My Hats Blog to meet one of the people who wore her hat to our church yesterday.

Jesus is the reason for the season.

Vital Statistics Department--New Arrivals

Folks, just want to let you know that Mr. and Mrs. G had quadruplets yesterday morning.


Mother and little ones are doing just fine.


Proud Papa


First there was an eating lesson...


Then there was a preening lesson. "Hey, pay attention!"


And finally the swimming lesson!
"This is fun!"
"Yeah, I could do this all day!"
"Me, too!"
"Yee-haw!"


"You're doing great, kids!"


Ah...the family that swims together, stays together.

Stay tuned.

Citizens of Pancake Flats Department

Last week while I was sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, Willis showed up. You know Willis; he drives the lumber truck for Phillips Pharmacy and Hardware Store here in Pancake Flats.

Willis looked real bad. His face was just a mess! Two serious black eyes, a severely swollen nose, puffed lips, and several pretty bad scratches. He walked real slow and painful-like.

After he signed in and sat down, I went over and sat next to him. “Willis, what happened?”

“I slipped,” he said.

“You slipped? Whatchoo mean, Willis?”

“I slipped up. Sorry, it’s hard to talk.”

“Take your time,” I told him. I noticed some defensive wounds on his hands. “What happened?”

“Well, we were out to dinner at Bertie’s Pie and Coffee Shoppe last night.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me and my wife and her mother. We was having a good enough time and then I slipped up.”

“And…”

“Well, I meant to ask my mother-in-law, ‘Could you please pass the salt,’ but what came out was, ‘You overweight cow! You ain’t done a thing in your life ‘cept meddle in our marriage!’”