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| 2012 Troyer Family Christmas Card |
Merry Christmas!
Christmas is just ten days away. Although I cannot be with my family this Christmas due to my deployment, I am still excited or them and for the joy which they will experience this year.
Before I left, in November, I went to one of the small shops on the outskirts of town, and started looking for Christmas presents after work one day. Since I was in my uniform, the shopkeeper and her assistant asked me if I was new in town, since they have a large number of people in the community who come and go.
I told her that we had been in town for a few months, and that I had been in once before to look around. I told her that the previous visit is what made me decide to purchase my Christmas presents from her store. In the course of our conversation, I told her that I was deploying and that I wanted to buy some presents for my family before I left.
She was thrilled that I picked her establishment for this important task, and she helped me to find everything I was looking for, and then some. Once I had finished shopping, these two ladies wrapped each gift for me in some beautiful paper and tied ribbons around them.
It is the gestures like this, when people who have no gain whatsoever from it do nice things for others. This random act off kindness is one of the reasons I am still looking forward to Christmas this year. There are several beautifully wrapped presents sitting under the tree so that my family can experience the joy of opening a present which I picked out special for them on Christmas morning.
Another reason is that my wife and daughter will be able to spend some time with family while I am gone. They will be able to spend some time catching up on relationships that tend to suffer when you are in the Army and live far away from relatives. Even though we have our "Church family, and our "Army family," as so many call them, it is still nice to be able to return to those you have spent so many hears sharing life's experiences with.
Another reason I am excited about this Christmas is the fact that I was able to work something else out. My wife should be getting a special surprise at some point. I cannot say any more than that for now, as she reads my blog and that would kind of ruin it. I do plan to post pictures of her surprise later.
One final reason I am excited about this Christmas is for what it represents. It represents a time when the Savior, Jesus Christ, came to earth as a child so that one day, he could pay for our sins. I am thankful for His sacrifice and for what it means to me and my family.
I hope that if you are looking forward to Christmas as much as I am this year, and if you are not, perhaps you can borrow some of the hope and cheer which I possess this year until you find yourself with some Christmas cheer of your own. If nothing else, just enjoy the time you can spend with your family, and think about all off the soldiers, airmen, and sailors who cannot.
David H. Troyer
