Pray for Peace at Christmas

We enter the Christmas season with heavy hearts this year and a tighter grip on our families as our nation prays for peace. Be thankful this Christmas for all your blessings and mindful of your neighbors in need. Keep the faith in your fellow man, because good always overcomes.

We live in a world where actions cannot always be explained, but we also are children of a higher power who compels many to selfless deeds. Look beyond the headlines and you'll still find compassionate, caring souls who make it their life's work to heal, protect and teach. Strangers still reach out to strangers in helpful, everyday ways. Children are still cherished by the masses who view them as the angels they are.

More than anything this holiday season, take time to appreciate your true gifts - family, faith, food and shelter - and share them if you can. Kind hearts and goodness are all around us, they just work in humble ways.

Our prayers are with the families in Connecticut and those suffering around the world. We can't erase your pain, but most of us share it, because in the end, humankind is largely composed of good people -- and for that I am deeply thankful.

Let us not stand unaware in the face of the world's ills, but let us also not be blinded to the goodness of God's grace. I wish you and your families peace this Christmas and throughout the coming years. I also pray for our troops who serve apart from their families today. Merry Christmas, Texas, and God grant us peace on Earth.