It was the Eve of Christmas. I had just arrived back into town from visiting my dad in Spencer and meeting my nephew who I had not seen since he was just a few months old. Wow, how he has grown, and Aunt Malea was very proud of him! He is so smart for a 2 1/2 year old. He was chattering away and we helped put together Lincoln Logs that I had given him for Christmas.

So back to the Eve of Christmas, I met my friends, Jeff and Caroline at a local church. It was a small gym, in fact. Small gym, but lots of spirit for Jesus. It was all so heartwarming to me. I sat with Jeff and Caroline's little Olie on my lap. He is my little cutie pie! I am pretty sure he has taken a liking to me! He was my christmas present for the night. I even got hugs from my muscle Max. I picked him up, hugged him tight and told him I love him. He said, "I love you too Dr. Malea!" Talk about a tear jerker! Charlie man was not in the mood for hugs, but I did get a little grin out of him! Buck and Laura were excited to see me at their church. We hugged and chatted about their new addition to the family............baby Zoe, a 10 month old from Ethiopia. Soon she will be an Olsen! God is so good!

After the service, I got into to my truck and checked my messages. One from my friend, Mary. I had a feeling it was not going to be a good one. Her brother, Bobby, was not doing well. They were not expecting him to live thru Christmas. I was unfortunately right. Bobby passed away. Here is a paragraph from Mary:

Hi All!!
Yesterday was a day that words cannot describe!! We got a call about 2:45 to come up to the hospital ASAP. We get up there 15 after 3:00. The nurse tells us that it could be a false alarm but his O2 sats were dropping. We walk into the room and there is this tall hansome young man. JUSTIN!!We were so thankful that he found it in his heart to come up there and see his Dad. They had not seen each other for over 10 years. Divorce and a bitter Ex wife messed that up. Anyway, we leave Justin alone wit his dad for a few minutes and the nurse comes out of the room. I asked her is Justin OK in there and she says he looks like he is not sure what to do. SO I go in there and Justin says, "can he hear me?' I told him sure he can. "Bob, Can you see who is here? Justin is here!" He looks over at Justin and says "Justin" with his lips. Justin grabs his hand and says he loves him and he is sorry...A tear runs down Bobby's face. The rest of the family comes in, Mom & Dad, and Gaylen (Bob's girlfriend 12 years disappears somewhere outta the room). I was holding Bob's left hand and Justin was standing next to me. Mom on the other side holding his right and Dad standing with her. Suddenly, Bobby's breathing becomes very erratic. We watch his pulse rate drop down down and breathing becomes longer in between breaths...within 15 minutes....He was gone!! He died at 3:45 on Christmas Eve. It was the most amazing, but emotionally draining thing I have ever witnessed in my life!!! It was like he was waiting for Justin. The nurses had been telling Bob all day that his son was coming. We were not positive he was...but hoped he would. I prayed he would show up since I had been talking to him. I just found him last week thru the Internet. He was living in Houston!!! And now here he was well over 6', handsome, polite, caring young man...and the spitting image of Bobby. It was all out of a movie!! Thru that whole process Justin stood there rubbing my back and comforting me. This IS exactly like a movie, LOL. God took my brother , but reunited us with Justin..Wow! My little brother came in last night around 9:00...and missed the whole thing...but I beleive God didn't want him to see Bobby that way...Billy doesn't handle hosputals well anyway... It all worked out the way it was suppose to. So all the kids (Me, Billy, Gary, Cathy) are here at Mom & Dad's...except Bobby, but he is here too. I already miss him terribly, but I know he is in a better place. Celebrating Jesus birthday with Stan!! LOL. Thank you all again for all the thoughts, Prayers, and wishes...it worked out according to God's plans........ Love, Mary

I went to my church for a second Christmas EVE service. I am so glad I did! I simply cannot put into words the feeling I get when I hear Pastor Mike speak. He is surely a blessing from God. His gifts are plentiful and he speaks the Word with such passion. I left there knowing Jesus had a lot of space in me.......in fact, all the space He needed to fill me up!

I pray everyone had a blessed Christmas!