I had an interesting experience shortly after arriving in France. One of the couples here at Le Rucher asked me if I'd like to go with them (on a Sunday afternoon) to Nyon which is located about 20 minutes from us. It's a beautiful little coastal town. As none of us speak French fluently, we were wondering if we had to pay for parking or not. We wandered around the parking lot to see if we saw any 'pay stubs' on the windows, but we still could'nt tell. We then watched a woman get out of her car, wander over to the pay machine, read the instructions and drop some euros into the machine. Even though we saw her do this, we still questioned whether we had to pay or not. For some odd reason, (foreigners often have funny ways of going about things), we thought the longer we stood in front of the instructions, the more clarity we would get :) when all of a suddent, money started to come out of the machine. of course, we laughed and said it must have been God sending 'money from heaven', so we went ahead and paid for the parking stub, still not really knowing if we were suppose to pay or not. But we figured 'hey, it's free'. And of course, we also realized that it was most likely change from the woman ahead of us, but she had long gone, so we couldn't return it to her. We could have looked at it as a 'free' gift from God, but in reality, I recognized that this lady 'paid a price' for our gift...

The holiday season is always a time to reflect on the past year, its many blessings, and things for which we are grateful. It's also a time when some reflect on losses, and the price they or their family have paid for this loss. In coming here to France, I am once again paying the price (even though it's a personal choice) of leaving the US, acclimating to a new country and culture, being so far away from family, etc. What are the costs of your choices? Are they selfish or selfless sacrifices? Who benefits most from the choices we make? I thank Jesus for paying the ultimate price; the price on the cross. He died for me and you - amazing...no greater love than this...I challenge you, during this beautiful Christmas season, to stop and be thankful for the one(s) who have sacrificed and paid a cost for different things in your life whether it's your parents who possibly paid for your education while they worked a second job, or your children who gave you grandchildren, or that friend who gave of their time so you could have someone to lean on...whatever it is, recognize that it had to 'cost' someone something ... thank you to all of you who have 'paid the cost' to help me do what it is I do. Merry Christmas!