Merry Christmas, from Egan, Texas, ya'll!

Yep, it doesn't seem like it's possible, but 2011 is coming to an end. It seems like yesterday we were marveling at the sound of "January 1, 2011". Well, here we are marveling at another new year that's nippin' at our heels.

It's been a wonderful year for The Impulsive Texan. I've met many wonderful people on my blog and I've picked up readership from all over this piece of rock we call Earth. Just this morning I was reading the stats of the visitors I've had to the site in the last twelve hours. People are reading from all over the globe from places like Killeen, Texas, Mikkeli, Eastern Finland, London, England, Oroville, California and Zagreb,Grad Zagreb. I don't know where a few of those places are, but it does an old Texans heart good to know that I now have reader fans from everywhere.

This time of year my mind turns to counting the many blessings that I personally have in my life. Just a few off the top of my head are:

1. I am going into my tenth year at my job that I absolutely love
2. I have a wonderful and supportive family that encourages me to keep writing on here.
3. We have a warm and cozy place at our homestead, "La Puerta del Cielo".
4. And to be my age and have the health I have? What a blessing. I tell my wife that when I swing my legs out of the bed each morning and stand up, everything else that comes is a true bonus.

But the biggest blessing we received this year is that we are still able to spend time with one of our young granddaughters. Crista, our second youngest almost lost a fight with a bad case of pneumonia literally just a few weeks ago. Her ability to fight off the unceasing 105.5 temperatures that ravaged her body even made the doctors shake their heads in amazement. We came very close to losing our little "Crista". But she's here and as I write this, I can hear her little voice carrying throughout the house as she helps Granmama make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen.

All in all it's been a fabulous year around our household. Our youngest daughter brought  grandchild number seven into this world and Kenna Michelle is absolutely adorable. There are so many things to be thankful for, I could take an entire day to share them. But, I won't go into all of that. Instead I want to share something with you that I recently came familiar with that has absolutely blessed me beyond words. And how appropriate it is for the Christmas Season.

All of you that know me, know that music is my one passion. I write songs, I play guitar and I attempt to sing. I've been told to "stick to writin' 'em, let someone else sing 'em". Hehehe...and I totally agree.One of my all time favorite entertainers is a young man named David Phelps. He is a gospel recording artist and is to me, one of the top tenors in the world.

I leave you with a video of his rendition of the classic Christmas song "Oh Holy Night". I hope it blesses your heart as much as it did mine. Listen as he defies gravity with his vocals in this amazing performance of a true Christmas season classic. Pay very close attention and have the volume way up when it gets to 3:20 of the performance. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous stuff.

So from my family to yours, from here at La Puerta del Cielo, our little place in this world in Egan, Texas,  we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and all the blessings your heart can hold. Until we meet again in 2012, love and compassion to all.

The Impulsive Texan



"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...