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Calm, content, even-tempered, and most of all, conflict avoidant, the Enneagram Nine description fit me. 

Have you ever put money in a vending machine and then had the bag of chips get stuck? It’s an infuriating experience, and hardly matters that I’ve only lost about 50 cents. I put that money in the machine and I expect to get my chips! So I will do whatever I can to get my snack unstuck: stick my hand as far up the delivery slot as it will go; kick, shake, and rail at the machine; and in general make a fool of myself. But usually, there’s no getting those chips out.

Advent is a season of anticipation. Anticipation for a Savior to bring light into a dark world. But it has a melancholy tenor to it. It’s the time before the joyous celebration of Jesus’ birth that we remember at Christmas. A time of uncertainty.

It used to be that people named their children based on what the name meant. 

My longest adult relationship before marriage lasted about a year. But it limped along for six months too long.

Our first president, George Washington, was born on February 22. Abraham Lincoln, another iconic president, was also born mid-February.

It seems every year the pressure surrounding Christmas gift-giving spins more and more out of control.