What is your IQ? The average people in the world have an IQ between 70-130 on the IQ scale. The highest score recorded in history is between 250-300. Jim Kwik remarked, "It's not how smart you are, but how are you smart?" Perhaps that should be the question that is asked as we consider the Wisemen in the Christmas story!

"In the beginning...", the beginning of what? For us, there must be a starting point for all things because we are accustomed to time and the reality that there is a point of entry. The beginning of my mornings are all similar as I get up, shower, go downstairs, make coffee, read, and then go about the day of work or leisure. It has a beginning, usually a routine and an ending.

An old Bill Gaither chorus we used to sing is "I'm So Glad I'm a part of the family of God. I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood! Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, for I'm part of the family, the family of God." Being part of God's family is all because Jesus was born, became a man and delivered us from sin!

O Little Town of Bethlehem is a beloved, old hymn that is sung at this special time of year. It is written by Phillip Brooks after being in Israel one Christmas Eve and beholding the sleepy little town while standing out in the fields. His desire was to give a simple yet meaningful message to the children in his church.

Unexpected events often are a source for differing emotions such as disbelief, surprise or fear. The event may cause us to go back and search our values and absolutes to ensure that we are acting in accordance with those principles.

Surprise birthday parties and celebrations are gratifying when the person is caught totally unprepared. One of the most difficult things to do is to keep a secret. It is especially difficult when it is a very special event or detail that is going to impact many people.

God works in extraordinary ways, His wonders to perform. Often, we take the amazing acts, wonders of His powers and the daily ministry of the Holy Spirit as commonplace events. They are anything but common place. The beauty of a sunrise and the exquisite composition of a flower in bloom reminds us of God's handiwork in the everyday, normal realm of life.

Stories abound of my relatives who lived in Western New York. Both sides of my family came to the region to farm the land and raise cattle, sheep, and horses. My father's side came from Germany and my mother's family came much earlier from England. While we get our name from my father, we do not know a lot about that ancestry. Paperwork was lost at Ellis Island and therefore our ancestral origin in Germany is uncertain.

Our past is important to our future as was seen yesterday with the genealogy of Christ. As we review the ancestry of Christ, we see the ways that God informs the readers of the perfect work of His plans. A careful search of scripture will reveal that the phrase "book of the genealogy" is only used twice.

Family trees reveal some fascinating facts about our past and makes ongoing exploration exciting. The branches can shoot out into unexpected places, and we can find some curious and intriguing characters that we did not know were a part of our heritage. My mother and cousin have been exploring our background and has traced my mother's family back to the 1600's.