Let me just serve you a nice big helping of holiday viruses...

The Christmas season is busy for a pastor, who has to juggle his usual schedule plus extra services and soloists and children's programs, all joyful and jolly but lots of work. The worst time for a pastor to wake up at 4 a.m. to puke out his guts is the Sunday before Christmas, but nevertheless that's what happened in my very full house yesterday, where the pastor dressed in his colorful Christmas tie and stepped into the pulpit looking as pale as death. "Let people help you," I urged him, and he did. Everyone was happy to help.

In fact we've been enjoying a festival of helping for the past few days: my granddaughter helped her two-year-old brother get dressed, and then he helped his uncle put together a toddler-sized hockey net. Both grandkids "helped" the adults roll out the cookie dough and we all helped decorate the cookies, all colorful and covered with frosting and sprinkles--and possibly unwanted viruses. Someone ought to do a study on the Christmas cookie as vector for disease.

When my husband fell victim to that nasty intestinal virus and spent the rest of the day in bed, my daughter mixed up some oral rehydration fluid and went out to the grocery store for jello cubes. It helped! And today, after my husband was back on his feet again, my son-in-law the tech guru helped him learn how to use his new smartphone, a task I was not quite up to because by then I'd become sick myself--not with the stomach bug, thankfully, but with a massively annoying upper respiratory mess that has suited me to playing the role of Rudolph.

Over the past three days we celebrated two birthdays and had our family Christmas celebration, and now the guests have all left and the house is quiet and we have nothing on the schedule for Christmas day except to rest and recuperate and try to get back to full strength. Peace on earth is what we're looking for--or if that's too much to ask, then at least a peaceful night's sleep. 

Joy to the world, and may all your cookies be virus-free.

Helping grampa

"I can do it myself!"

Rolling and scooting and almost crawling

Just a little family chaos.

Cooperative play

Yeah, that's what I'm doing!

Sisters, being silly.