Our New Arrival {Zac Returns from Notre Dame}

Joseph, Zachary and Peter together after daily Mass at Sacred Heart

His first semester at Notre Dame behind him, Zachary returned to the fold for a month's Christmas break.  Luggage in tow, fully bearded and dressed to the nines, Zachary arrived in fine form and our family of five was once again whole. 

With Zachary's return comes the reunion of his old gang of solid friends;  guys who have obviously missed Zachary and anticipated his return.  He's a wanted man, and does a fine job balancing his family time and 'bro' time.  The shortage of hours of sleep notwithstanding, Zachary's adjustment to life at home seems fairly seamless. 

One semester of intense German in his wake, with another on the horizon inspired Zachary to read the Gospel of John in German over the break.  Following along in English, I listened as he read the first chapter aloud.  I'm no German scholar, but he sounded proficient and certainly confident in his pronunciation. 

In these final days of Advent, our family and individual preparations for the celebration of Christ's birth draw us closer to one another, and closer to Him.  The excitement of having our first-born son return from college, as awesome as it is, pales in comparison to our hope-filled anticipation of the coming of our Savior ~ as at the remembrance of His Holy birth on Christmas we await our Returning King who promised to come again to judge the living and the dead.  Are you ready?