As we begin the final stretch to Christmas, we too often get caught up in the peripheral trappings of the holiday season: planning meals, finalizing travel itineraries, last minute gift shopping. This time of year can stressful and tense, as we perhaps put undue pressure on ourselves. So, this week, in fact at some point today, take time away from the hustle and bustle of your busyness. Find that place at work or at home where you can be alone for a while, a place where it is just you and God. Dear friends, in this next week take a few moments each dayto be silent in with the Lord. There you will find his peace and renew yourself to embrace in joyful hope the grace filled days of this sacred season.