I have always had a great thankfulness for modern technology, but never so much as yesterday. By using a webcam in conjunction with Skype software, my wife and son in England were able to watch the rest of my family here in America open our presents on Christmas morning. Although not a substitute for being together, it certainly did help to bridge the gap. Thank God for technology! (I don’t say that trivially becaue technology, like everything in life, is thoroughly theological. See Denis Alexander's excellent article 'Worshiping God With Technology')
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Every evening our family tries to do some form of liturgical family worship. During the season of Advent we used the book The Season of Light, to direct our worship. I would highly recommend it.
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We are now celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas leading into Epiphany, with special scripture readings, poems and activities for the children on each day. Today (the first of the twelve days of Christmas) is also distinguished for being St. Stephen's day.
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Update on Problems With IRS
Some people have asked about my earlier comment about our problems with the IRS. Here's what the deal was: when I was living in England I had no idea that I was supposed to be filing IRS tax returns during my period of self-employment. As a consequence, the IRS charged us fines for late filing of our 2004-6 tax returns, even though for 2004 and 2005 I didn't actually earn enough to have to pay taxes. In 2006 I earned sufficient income to pay taxes (which were demanded by both countries!) and in addition to this I also had to pay penalties for late filing. We have now managed to catch up with all the back-log of payments and penalties, so we now have a clean slate. I appreciate everybody's concern.
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