For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ( 1 Corinthians 13:13)

At this joyous time of year as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, two words come to mind:

• Love – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 and “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13. Without love, life would not be worth living.
• The second word that comes to mind is commitment . God is committed to us; Jesus was committed to the cross; we need to be committed to our faith. I consider it a small way to pay God back for all the blessings He has given our family over the years.

Our recent trip to the Dominican Republic continues to come to my mind when I think about how blessed we are to live where we do. We have so many more material things than we really need. Many of the people we met didn't seem to have much of a family life, but they were still very happy and appreciated everything they did have.

Keith & I are very blessed to still have both sets of our parents with us. Our parents are an excellent example of love & commitment. First through the undying love, guidance and direction they provide for our family and especially the expressions & examples of love to each other. They are committed to each other.

Both couples have 50+ years of marriage and are excellent mentors and role models. I'm sure their 50 years together have had their challenges, but they made a commitment to each other before God, years ago and are still working to fulfill that promise.

If you have not done so recently, take time this holiday season to commit or re-commit your love to God, your spouse and your family. Allow God's love to warm you this holiday season.

Happy Anniversary Don & Lois (Dec 5) and Jack & Connie (Nov 23)!! Diane and Keith Bangs