Randy Hemingway's Blog

It’s Christmas day!!! The best day of the year! This is certainly going to be an odd Christmas day for me. I woke up at 9:30am. Usually, I’m up at like 3 or 4. Not really, but it feels like it. Gotta be the first one up, you know. Faith is working today until 3, so that’s definitely something different. Right now, it’s a little past 10, and I’m writing a post, Gracie’s sleeping on the couch, Christmas music is playing on *radio voice* “KEZK: St. Louis’ Christmas Station”, and it doesn’t feel a whole lot like Christmas usually feels, to be honest. Faith and I opened our presents for each other last night, and that was a lot of fun. She bought me a pair of L.L.Bean boots, a long-sleeve T-shirt, a long-sleeve polo, a table saw (woot!), an awesome half-zip fleece from l.l.bean, a Dilbert one-a-day calendar, and a desk toy gizmo. My in-laws are coming over in a few hours, after Faith gets off work, and we’re gonna have a Christmas day with them. I’m really looking forward to it, because, after all, what’s Christmas day without family, food, and presents? Even if it is a little later than usual. Then, we’ve got to get ready to fly out tomorrow to go to NH to see my family! That’ll be a lot of fun. Not the flying part, but the spending time with my family part. I used to really look forward to flying, but lately it’s more of a necessary evil than anything. *resisting temptation to complain about flying, it is Christmas, after all* To get ready for today, I need to clean up the house and make Rice Krispies Treats for the first time ever. Hope they turn out all right. If I’m gonna get all that done, though, I need to get started. So, I’m gonna wrap it up. I hope all of you, my wonderful readers, unseen and unheard as you are, have a wonderfully Merry Christmas, and enjoy spending time with your family and friends.

Since we got Gracie, we’ve had our happy times and our not-so-happy times, and I’ve chronicled some of those for you in the past here. But, one of the most frustrating things about having a dog is trying to figure out how to communicate with her. So, I’ve come up with a few things that I keep wanting to ask my dog, even though I know there’s no way I’ll ever get an answer.

Why do you incessantly lick the carpet? Even after you’ve eaten a whole bowl of dog food?

We don’t spray the carpet with Febreze, so why do you smell it all the time?

Does the sound of water running make you have to use the doggie potty (i.e., the back yard…or patio. whichever is more conveniently located)?

Couldn’t you just scratch on the door or whine or something when you have to use the doggie potty, like any other normal dog? Why does your potty signal have to be running around like a crazy dog? It’s awfully easy to confuse that with your “I just got done with dinner and now I’m gonna run around like a crazy dog” signal.

Coke or Pepsi?

Do you really like that slop we feed you, or are you just being polite?

What do you dream about? From the way your legs twitch and you whimper faintly, it’s easy to imagine that you’re dreaming about running thru a wide, open field with a bunch of your friends. Or maybe you’re chasing a rat in the mines, the way your ancestors were bred to.

After a few months of trying, will you ever figure out that we’re not going to feed you from our dinner plates?

What do you want to watch tonight?

Do you like us?

Do you like wearing that ridiculous sweater Faith bought you?

Is it as fun running back and forth between the kitchen and the bedroom as you make it look?

Do you know we love you?

Having a dog is a lot of fun, and, sometimes, a bit of work. But, we like having Gracie around. No matter how hard it is to figure out what she’s thinking sometimes.

As the Christmas season really revs up, there is a massive battle being waged. I know, I know, you think I’m going to talk about the “commercialization of Christmas” or the “war on Christmas.” No, I’m going to take a slightly different tack. As I’m listening to all the Christmas-themed commercials this holiday season, I’m noticing something rather disturbing. Let me start with a question. Who is Santa Claus? Now, allow me to proceed with a list.

Santa Claus, as presented to young children, is:
1) a real person, although possessing supernatural powers, as listed below

2) a being who lives forever

3) a being who knows everything (i.e., who is naughty and who is nice)

4) a being who is organized AND careful, hence the twice-checked list, but that has nothing to do with anything that I’m talking about

(Note: Now, I’ve tried to inject some levity. However, I want to make it very clear that what I am going to say is very serious; and, if I seem like I’m joking, I mean no disrespect at all.)

Is there anyone else you can think of who shares the traits (besides #4) listed previously as being characteristic of Santa Claus? The Person I’m thinking of is the whole reason we celebrate Christmas. Yes, Jesus. Now, if you don’t know Jesus, we celebrate His birth at Christmas. He is God. he came to earth in the form of a man to die on the cross for the sins of the world. If you have sinned, there is a penalty for your sin, which is to spend eternity in a literal place of eternal fire named Hell. In the beginning, however, God did not create us simply to exist and die and be punished forever; He created us to have a relationship with Him. Since we have all sinned, though, we cannot have a relationship with a Holy God without Someone to be a go-between, a Mediator, for us. The Bible says,”Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.” Therefore, Jesus came to earth, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again from the dead. Jesus took our place; He paid our debt. Now, we have a choice: either we can accept His offer and believe that He is the only way that we can have a relationship with God and spend eternity in Heaven OR we can insist that we have to do something to pay Him back for what He’s done and thereby reject His offer. Jesus, in His Word, the Bible, says that He wants us to repent of our sin and believe on Him for salvation.

Now, Jesus, as I mentioned before, shares all of the first three traits with Santa Claus. However, there’s a few reasons why I would much rather believe in Jesus than in Santa Claus.

Once again, please allow me to put forth a list.
I would much rather believe in Jesus than Santa because:
1) Jesus is real.

2) Santa, every year, will bring a sleigh-full of gifts that might last a few years, but Jesus’ one gift will always satisfy and will last forever.

3) Santa needs a whole workshop full of elves to make a bunch of toys, but Jesus can make vast universes just by speaking.

4) Santa has to rocket around the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer to deliver his presents, but Jesus is (and was, and will be) already there.

5) Jesus doesn’t just give you what you ask for; He gives you what’s best for you.

So, to sum it up, please think about what I have said, and re-evaluate who is more important to you…and your eternity.

Well, it was quite a day for me! Today, the guy from IT finally came over and installed SolidWorks on my laptop! *raucous cheering* Speaking of which, click here for a picture of said laptop. It’s a Dell Precision M4300. As far as I can tell, it’s a really nice laptop.
Also, besides being really stoked about the laptop and SolidWorks, I got my Erin Bode Christmas CD tonight (Title: A Cold December Night)! Woot! All of the songs are really nice and very pleasant to listen to. She normally produces jazz albums, and, to be honest, I haven’t listened to any of them. I heard her sing part of one of the songs on this CD when she was doing a plug for it on a morning radio show, and I knew I had to get the CD. I wasn’t disappointed. Some of the songs are Erin’s own and have some jazzy influence, and some of the songs are traditional Christmas hymns. All in all, I really like the CD and Erin’s voice is very easy to listen to. Anyway, I like the CD, I like my laptop, and I’m glad to have SolidWorks back in my life.

I’ve gotta learn a small Scripture passage to recite for the Christmas program, I need to decide whether or not to have an extra practice with the speaking parts, I have a big project coming up at work, I have to get my suit tailored so I can actually wear it, I need to….*sigh* I’ve got a lot to do and it’s all got to happen before Christmas. I think the main reason I’m feeling so overwhelmed right now is mainly being the director of the speaking parts in the Christmas program. It’s kind of a big deal. I’m a little scared. More so than when I was just one of the cast members. I’m sure it will come together in the end, and the cast are doing a great job of learning their lines and everything. I guess I’m just going to have to give it to the Lord. Lord, here You go. I’ll do my best, but You’ll have to do the rest. Oh, and please remind the cast to work on their lines this week. Thank You, Lord.