December 2024

HEAD OVER MEALS Merry Christmas! Once again, a year has flown by, and it all began yesterday. At least, that’s how it seems.

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I hope that you all had a wonderful, grace-filled Christmas Day and made many sweet memories. We all remember special Christmas moments that will stick with us for years to come---meals with families, meaningful gifts, and other beautiful experiences. One of my most precious memories is a Christmas morning when our son was about three. That morning, he walked into the living room in his blue, fuzzy footie pajamas. Then his eyes opened wide, and he exclaimed, “He Came!”Of course, he was excited and amazed that Santa had come and brought him his first 2-wheeler bicycle. But the wonder-filled words he uttered captured the meaning of Christmas for all of us—He came! Jesus came in the form of a baby and lived among us. That is the wonder we celebrated this season. That is why we sang carols, put on nativity pageants, and lighted Advent candles.

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Dear Neil, I have had this Christmas cactus for a little more than a year now. It bloomed last year and has flowers on it now. However, its leaves do not look healthy—a condition that arose only a couple of months ago. The plant itself looks droopy, and the leaves are now turning purplish rather than green. The plant sits outside on my covered patio. It gets indirect morning sunlight, and I water it when the soil gets dry. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Meet Jelly Bean! She was surrendered to the shelter in late November because her family was moving away and could not take her with them. She was very scared to be at the shelter and away from the family she had always known.

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In a presentation held at the Alpine High School gym last Tuesday, 60 seniors received direct admission to the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB), and 47 of those students were also awarded scholarship money for the college in Odessa.

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