The First Christmas

As I was sitting in Sacrament meeting today, I decided that I wanted to do a little reading. I pulled out my trusty Palm and fired up the scriptures. I thought, since it's the season, that I would read through the Christmas story in Luke 2. Some of the things that struck me were that it basically goes through Christ's whole childhood in one chapter. Most of the things we know about him growing up are right there. I think having a young child during this time of year makes me much more grateful for Mary and Joseph than I have been previously. If it's stressful for me to raise a child in today's environment, I can't imagine having to raise a child that would be perfect and never sin. I also can't imagine having to see my son crucified at 33 years of age. One of the verses that struck me the most was when Mary saw the things that were happening and "treasured them up in her heart". Being around my wife makes me understand this passage much more than I ever could've before I met her. She is very positive and is always pointing out the wonderful things that our son has done or learned. Just as Mary "treasured" things, I think all mothers treasure everything about their children.
When I had finished Luke 2, I thought about people in other places, and what their Christmas would've been like. I turned to the Book of Mormon and read the first chapter of Third Nephi. In it, it tells of the people who were living in the Americas when Christ was born. There were signs that had been prophesied to happen at the birth of the Saviour. Many believed, but some did not. The non-believers gave the believers a deadline for the signs to occur. When the deadline came, the sign was given that Christ had been born. What a miraculous time to be alive that would have been. I hope that I would have been one of those who held out to the end even under threat of persecution or death. I'm very grateful for those who have been faithful in those times and in our current time.
We are living in a difficult time. Sin and hate abound. I'm grateful that we live in a time when we have a living prophet and the teachings that we need to raise our children righteously.

Ebay

Well, you live and you learn. This week I put an item on eBay. Nothing too special, just an old 100MB switch. I was expecting to get 5 bucks for it, on top of shipping. I put shipping at 7 bucks. No bids for most of the week. Looks like somebody sniped it at the very last second for 1 cent. Now I'm just hoping that I can get it shipped for 7 bucks.

• Life Lesson 1: Always set a reserve price if you're not willing to part with something for less than a certain number.
• Life Lesson 2: Always make sure that you set the shipping price for an item to something that will at least cover your expenses to send the item.
• Life Lesson 3: Your crap isn't worth as much as you think it is.....

This has been a fairly good week as far as weight goes. At least it was until today. Sundays are typically my most difficult days. I think this is because, for the most part, we always go over to either my parent's or my wife's parents for dinner. I also have a hard time not snacking throughout the day when there's some wonderful Football to be watched.

My Fantasy team is doing extremely well. 3-0 so far this year, and looking to secure another win this week against my niece from Las Vegas. Barring a spectacular performance on Monday by Donavan McNabb, I should be golden.

Biggest Loser

Well, I just finished watching "Biggest Loser" tonight on TV while my wife was doing her church calling. It's pretty amazing the effort that those people can put forth. I've been trying to lose some weight, but it's been difficult. I'm down significantly from what I was when I first met my wife, but as you can tell if you've seen any recent pictures, I still have a lot to lose. One of the best moments of the show tonight was when one team won a challenge and won the opportunity to call their family. Really made me reflect on what's important in life. As long as I can be healthy and happy and have my family there with me, nothing else really matters.