It still sickens me to see it. Those plumes of smoke over Cape Canaveral - the awful trail from what had been the Space Shuttle Challenger. Teacher Christa McAuliffe and six other crew members were gone before our eyes. Hard to believe it was 25 years ago. Hard to believe the memories and the feelings are still so vivid.

I suppose if treating victims with traumatic injuries is what you do every day, you're not easily moved emotionally by what you see. Unless it's something really above and beyond.

I'm so inspired by "Gabby" Giffords' recovery! After her near fatal gunshot wound to the head two weeks ago, she's leaving the hospital for rehab! The word "miracle" has become almost commonplace in news reports these days.

It's like Dr. Peter Rhee was hand-picked to be the trauma doctor that tragic Saturday morning in Tuscon. Suddenly, University Medical Center Hospital was inundated with a flood of shooting victims. Most prominent among them - a United States Congresswoman with a severe bullet wound to the head.

Flags fly at half-staff...our national leaders pause for a moment of silence at the White House and on the Capitol steps...and even seasoned news reporters struggle with the pain and anguish of those devastating moments when a mall parking lot suddenly became a killing field.

Another one of those days. When our country is shaken by the shock and grief - and stories - of a single violent act. The barrage of deadly shots at the Tucson, Arizona supermarket lasted only seconds. The damage done will last for lifetimes.

I know Christmas is over. I can tell by looking in my wallet. And by looking in the room where our whole clan had our Christmas. I heard there are some great sales after Christmas. I'm looking for a bargain on trash bags.

We just gave our two-year-old grandson an early Christmas present - it's a charming children's Nativity. As soon as he opened it, he started arranging Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the animals exactly where he thought they should be.When I looked at his finished work, I thought, "This little guy gets it."

There's no better time to have a baby boy than Christmastime. My parents did. And we did. No, not my wife and me. That really would be a Christmas miracle. It was our son and daughter-in-law.

And as of this past weekend, our family can say, with the ancient prophecy of Jesus' coming, "to us a child is born; to us a son is given" (Isaiah 9:6). And what a baby boy he is, charging into the world at ten pounds, ten ounces!

The little kid with the round head and the pitiful tree has become a regular part of America's Christmas. Our kids watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" when they were little; now their kids love it - and their parents never stopped loving it.