Merry, merry Christmas! I hope each and every one of you have a blessed Christmas with your loved ones.

Jesus is the reason for the season.

For those of you that read my mom's blog, you know the happenings of the last week. For those of you who don't, my dear grandaddy passed away last Wednesday afternoon after a long fight with heart disease. He had a personal relationship with God and we know where he is now. As much as we all miss him so much and are grieving, we are also so happy that he is no longer hurting and now is in perfect health and in the arms of our Lord and Savior. I won't re-tell everything because most of you read my momma's blog, if you would like to read it, you can go here. The ceremony was Saturday, and was a beautiful celebration of his life.

*******************************

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT) says: "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure."

*******************************

This verse has run through my head many times since last Monday when we first found out Grandaddy was slipping away. He IS faithful and will not give us more than we can handle. He loves us and will get us through. Our family has been under fire, so to say. After the ceremony on Saturday, Jason had to take me to the ER. This cough that keeps hanging on advanced to the point to where I could no longer get more than a short, strained breath. Being asthmatic and diabetic, they took me back pretty quickly. After a 6 hour visit, a CT scan on my chest to rule out blood clots in my lungs (who knew this was even a possiblity!?), X-rays, blood work, a breathing treatment and an IV, I was released with the diagnosis that it was a nasty case of bronchitis, verging on pneumonia. We headed home on Sunday to be able to get me back close to my doctor if needed. My antibiotic has caused me sleep deprivation and extreme dry mouth. I am running on about 6-7 hours of sleep in the past 78 hours. I'm going back to the doctor this afternoon. My cough is loosening, but my whole chest and back are aching, and every cough attack feels like a million tiny knives are stabbing into the middle of my chest. Thank the Lord that Jason was able to get leave until Thursday so we were able to travel home, so he is home taking wonderful care of me. Again...God doesn't give us more than we can handle.

*******************************

Several of our family members are still sick with coughs and colds too, I'm not the only one. My mom being one of them. I stand amazed at my momma's and my grandmother's strength through all of this. Yes, it's been hard with lots of tears, but both of them are such examples of strength and Godliness. I admire them both more than they will ever know. Ending on this note, I am taking some time until after the holidays and probably won't be around here too much. I want to thank you for all of your prayers and words of comfort at my mom's blog and those that have already sent sweet comments to me. I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas season. Love in Christ.