Category → holiday
Happy New Year 2010
I just want to wish everyone a happy New Year as the clock strikes midnight.
Christmas Eve Snowstorm
Wow! We often complain about never having snow here in Oklahoma City. Most of the time if we do have winter weather, it ends up being sleet or freezing rain. Yesterday it was a nice 65 degrees and we were really enjoying it. This morning I woke up at 6:00 AM and it was raining. By 7:15 it had turned to sleet. The sleet fell for nearly four hours before turning to snow. By noon the National Weather Service had issued a blizzard warning for most of Oklahoma including Oklahoma City. In my 43 years I cannot remember ever having a blizzard warning here. The picture above shows looking behind my house toward the North. The picture below shows a view looking across the street. I was having a difficult time taking this picture because I the snow was blowing in my face even though the wind was from behind the house and I was on the front porch.
To be honest, I was very skeptical of this being much of a winter weather event because we have been promised these storms before and ended up with rain. When these pictures were taken, the wind was blowing 50+ miles per hour (MPH). Although we received 14.1 inches of snow, the drifts were pretty high. We had to shovel a huge drift from behind the car just so we could back out of the drive way to pick up my son from work.
The good thing about this snow is that tomorrow is Christmas and we have not had a white Christmas in 20 years. As of the time I am posting this, it is still snowing pretty hard. The radar shows that it is almost over. It looks like the snow will not last more than a couple more hours. Tomorrow should be a nice clear day for Christmas although we will have a nice snow covered day. While it is nice to have the snow, I have been watching the weather coverage all day and it has been telling us about one car accident in Midwest City that involved 50 cars. Another accident in El Reno involved 20+ cars. I know there have been many others but these two are the ones that really stood out to me. Let’s hope no one was seriously injured. It would be tragic for someone to have injuries on Christmas eve. I did drive to the store just outside my residential area about an hour ago and it was tough but manageable. As long as you don’t stop in a deep snow drift you are okay. We had to help push another car so they could get moving.
For us, it has been a nice day. Our white Christmas is a welcome site and we are happy to see it despite having nearly zero visibility.
Happy New Year
It just turned midnight and the neighborhood is loud with fireworks and firearms going off all around us. I hear horns honking, screaming and all sorts of noises. After waking at 4:45 AM it has been hard to stay awake throughout the day. My son is at his girlfriend’s house and we have to give him a ride home soon. The reality of a new year being here has hardly settled in with the fatigue. We managed to finish 2008 without any snow at all this season. The weather forecast tells of possible snowfall this coming Monday. I hope you have a great new year in 2009. It is time to go get my son so I better get this posted.
Heartfelt Gratitude
As I sit here typing this post I struggle to hold back the tears of emotion. My son is sleeping in his own bed here in our home. I never imagined how emotional this would be but this morning I am met with joy, grattitude, and shame for not trusting in God to bring my son home. He ran away on September 26, 2008 after a very harsh confrontation between him and myself. The last three months I have been angry, bitter, sad, and guilt along with every emotion a person can go through. My son had cut off all communication with us and making things better was impossible. The very mention of Christmas made me angry. My wife and other son have been incredible with their support and mourning the loss of 25% of our family. It truly has been like a death in the family only worse becase this loss was because of anger. I know my son is not here to stay but his being here is the best Christmas gift I have ever had. I stopped praying for his return but only that he would be happy.
This morning both of my sons are still asleep but my wife and I have been struggling with emotion. All I can say is “Thank you God!” Thank you for not giving up on us. Thank you for taking care of my son. Thank you for my family that stayed behind. Thank you most of all for sending your son to die to pay for my sins. This day we celebrate the birth of your son, we get to celebrate the second birth of ours. God I pray that our other son will not hate his brother or us for being happy to see him. This day we celebrate the miracle of Jesus’ birth and the miracle of my son that was lost.
I just want to say thank you for the countless people that have prayed for our family. This truly is a miracle and I want everyone to know how greatful that I am. I love my family and this moment is hard to express with words. The many emotions that I feel at this moment cannot be expressed with words. I am sorry God for not trusting in your greatness and power. I feel shame for not having faith. I feel shame for lashing out at everyone. I feel gratitude for being given such a gift when I am not worthy. I feel gratitude for such a loving wife and mother Sunday. Words cannot express how much I love her. Short of Jesus himself, she is the very reason I wake up in the morning. Thank you Sunday for all that you are. Thank you Kevin for being the strong son that has been there for me and supported mom and I. Thank you for being the incredible son that anyone could ask for. Thank you Jordan for forgiving me enough to come home. I love my family and I love the God that gave them to me.
As painful as it was to lose my mom in 2005, this was even more painful. I miss my mom so much and I wish she could be here with us. I missed Jordan and just wanted to tell him that I love him but I could not because he would not speak to me. Now that he is home all I have to offer him is all the love that I can give and no lectures. He and Kevin are so important to Sunday and I and no one can put a value on that. This is honestly the first time in my life that I have been so greatful for a gift that it has brought me to tears. All I can say is thank you God. Thank you again and a million times. If I gave you all that I am, it could not be enough to repay you for the gratitude that I feel. This is truly the happiest Christmas that I have ever had.
All I can say is Thank you…
Happy Anniversary
Today is our 19th wedding anniversay and I am truly blessed. I met Sunday in 1988 and we married in 1989 at Life Christian Center, now Eastpointe Community Church. Sunday is more than one could ask in a wife. She does things for me without even asking. I always try to remember to give God the glory for my marriage because without him we would not be together. We have had a pretty good weekend so far as we went out to dinner on Friday night, then Saturday morning. We went to the new Warren theater in Moore to see a movie called Ghost town. It was strange because I did not see a single person in there under the age of 40. The movie was good though. This morning we went out for breakfast again. It has been a somewhat relaxing weekend.
My Bah Humbug View of Holidays
This coming Friday is Independence Day in the United States and by far my favorite holiday of the year. This is a day where you can just enjoy life and be with your friends and family. So far Hallmark has not ruined it by making it a gift guilt holiday like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentines Day. I have nothing against giving a gift but when it becomes a duty then I do. There are two commercials that I find particularly offensive. One of them is the Hallmark commercial where they turn the card over to make sure it is a Hallmark. The translation is that you are a cheap loser if you did not spring for the expensive name. The other one that really angers me is the Lexus commercial where the loved one just hands their spouse a set of Lexus keys. I do not know about you but if you have ever priced a Lexus, they are way over the top. I cannot imagine spending $50,000+ without discussing it first with your spouse. That is the perfect ingredient for a rocky marriage. My point is that holidays have become a responsibility, a bill, a duty that is not fun any more. I genuinely dread Christmas every year and that is tragic since it is supposed to represent the birth of Jesus.
It is interesting to note how when the news or the commercials speak of gift giving, they use words like procrastination, or running out of time. Why would someone procrastinate to do something they love to do? The truth is that it is a burden that most people see as a duty. So when someone gets you a gift for any of the holidays you can look at it as someone did their duty rather than cared enough for you to buy you something. It is something similar to that dreaded mortgage payment. Money is not the issue but rather the expectation that you must perform. Heck if it was just the money it would be easy. Just write the check and be on your way. For those of you that think this is just a bah humbug poor attitude that I have, just remember that most suicides are done during Christmas. This is not a coincidence because Christmas has become a duty and not an exciting event to look forward to.
The fourth of July is still fun because there are not duties that must be adhered to making it a day where you can still relax and enjoy life. In our busy lives where everything must be scheduled, it is nice to have a day where you can go out and enjoy visiting with family and friends without the burden of having to play any games. This is a day where you can enjoy the freedom we have and recognize the meaning of this day without it being corrupted by marketing. I do love what Christmas stands for but I do not like the game. Some people actually do like that stuff but I don’t and I know I am not the only one. Most guys that I meet that are not afraid to be honest will tell you they see it as a duty as well. I think that in the beginning it was nice and people wanted to do this but now that we have to listen to guilt commercials day in and day out, it is no fun anymore.
When is the last time you played the Valentines game? Did you enjoy it? Really? Did you really enjoy waiting at the restaurant for two hours for a seat on a work night. I bet if you were honest you would have to admit it was not a good time. I spoke with the manager at the Texas Road House the day after and he said the Fire Marshal made them run people off because there were so many people in the building that exceeded the legal limit. I love that place but have been there a number of times when it was not that busy and it still felt like we were being smothered with the crowd. I definitely would not want to be there then. My point is that people put themselves through this because it is a duty.
If you disagree with my opinion please send hate mail to plmccordj@yahoo.com or just post a response on the the blog.
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Christmas
It has finally arrived and I am glad. We have had a nice day so far but it has a little bit of dread since tomorrow we have to go back to work. We could not ask for better weather as it is 60 degrees out there and clear. It looks like a cold front is heading this way and we have a chance of snow tomorrow. I am really greatful for my wonderful family and friends that have made this such a good Christmas. I hope all of you have as nice day as we are having. Only one week until 2008 and I can hardly believe that. What an eventful year with school, pneumonia, gall bladder surgery, and the worst ice storm in Oklahoma history. I think it will end on a positive note giving God the credit for all the blessing we have had.
Thank you all for your support and prayers through this year.
Paul
CHRISTmas, Are You Ashamed?
I know I have posted in the past about this sad topic before but I thought being Christmas eve, it is relevant to mention again. In that previous post, I was angry and was speaking out of emotion. First the picture above is an example of what has always made me proud to live in Oklahoma City. This is one of the few places that still acknowledges Jesus in the Christmas celebration. I took this photo on the top of the parking garage at St. Anthony hospital in Northwest Oklahoma City. It was taken on Christmas eve in 2006. I just love that our downtown buildings still display the cross of Jesus on their buildings as a badge of honor and I think this is very important.
Discaimer: I use Godaddy.com as the domain registrar and hosting for this site and I love them. I really am pleased with their service and would recommend them to others.
In this photo, I took a screen shot of an email that I received via email yesterday. It was very nicely put together and wished myself and my family “…a Happy Holiday and a fantastic New Year.” I think it is unfortunate that Godaddy has chosen to follow the trend of other companies around Christmas that refer to Christmas as “HOLIDAY” instead of Christmas. This advertisement is so blatant because they single out Christmas as Holiday, and then go on to mention New Year by name. I think this is a conscious decision that companies are making to omit Jesus CHRIST from Christmas. Their motives are never announced so it leaves us to speculate. I would guess they would probably say they do not want to offend those of other religions by mentioning a Christian holiday by name. This is unfortunate because Christmas is a Christian holiday specifically to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This is the only holiday among all the other holidays this time of year that plays Christmas music, and giving gifts.
I would venture to say that the real issue that would never be admitted to is being ashamed of Jesus. There are millions of people in the United States that celebrate Christmas that do not even believe in Jesus. They want to play the game without any commitments. Companies want to sell their goods and take advantage of Christmas without acknowledging Jesus, the very reason for the holiday. You cannot have it both ways. Since they do not believe in Jesus, they will likely not listen to this argument either but I think it is relevant and important to know.
The Bible says in Luke 16:13…
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Also Jesus says in Mark 8:38…
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
This is so important because Christmas celebrates Jesus and these words are His own words. His words are more relevant than anything else. The way Christmas has been been displayed in recent years on television with advertising has been a complete turn off for me. It makes it not even feel like Christmas and I find myself muting every Christmas commercial on television. In their attempts to not offend other religions, they have successfully offended the very people that celebrate Jesus’s birth. I am not advocating boycotting businesses or anything but rather be a light. If you believe in Jesus, then do not be afraid to admit it and tell people about Him. Do not be ashamed of Jesus by taking the easy way out and saying “HOLIDAY”.
Happy Thanksgiving
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to Wynnewood, Oklahoma to my grandmother’s house. We stopped going to her house before I went into the Air Force because my family always told me that she does not need the noise. We had a very good time. I took 157 photos and more than two hours of video. If you are family and logged into Flickr, you can see the photos here. My wonderful wife and my oldest son went down there yesterday and cooked all night for the family and my youngest son and I went today.
I really enjoyed this day and was able to completely relax. I am thankful for so much in my life and I owe it all to God, and Sunday. I was able to see so many relatives that I had not seen in years and it was really rewarding. Well since it is nearly midnight, I will say good night and wish the best to all of you.
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Veterans Day
Today is Veterans Day and in my opinion a very important day. I spent ten years in the Air Force and my dad was in the Air Force as well. If you know someone that is, or has been in the military, please let them know how much they are appreciated. Having an all volunteer military means that all of them are in because they chose to. It is because of these selfless people that we have our freedoms. Whether you support the conflict going on in Iraq or not, our military deserves respect. If you are one of those Bush haters that demand that our troops come home immediately, please rethink this stand because they will be seen as failures. The military needs to be able to finish their job successfully.
For those of you in the military, I would like to say thank you for the sacrifices you make for us. We appreciate you and your families’ selfless service to the safety of our country. As we enjoy our holiday off from work, we will remember you that are serving for us.
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