5:15 am

It's 5:15 am.

Snow gently falls outside the window; big flakes have fallen during the night, leaving the trees across the street picture-postcard perfect.

I'm impressed my wife hasn't yet begun the Christmas music -- it's been on since the beginning of this month, but not yet today and we've been up for 20 minutes.

My youngest is sitting on the floor, gnawing a cookie. My eldest son is reading a book, as best as he can.

In a few hours we'll dress them warmly and take them outside to play in the new snow. Neither one knows this, but neither do they know that I hope that the world they grow up in will look drastically different from this one.

In the wake of the election of Illinois Senator Barak Obama to the White House, I hope that the change that is promised comes to pass. I'm not a terribly political person, but as a Christian I've been offended at how easily it's been assumed (by President Bush, Senator McCain, and several politicians here in Canada) that myself and people like me can be manipulated by the tossing off of a few glib catchphrases.

And I'm thankful that my country doesn't quite expell the same amount of pseudo-religious rhetoric that floats up from down south. It would be hard for me to name the religious traditions of our last four or five Prime Ministers. Roman Catholic, mostly, with a couple of Anglicans thrown in for good measure, I suppose.

I'm incredibly thankful that in Canada, I can be poor and not have to watch my children suffer for it. In the United States, I admire President Bush for his No Child Left Behind policy; I hope it can better be remembered as his legacy than any number of other things.

During the past eight years I've prayed that my own Prime Minister and the American President would be strong, caring leaders. I've not been disappointed in that.

But change is good.

And I hope that this snow doesn't melt immediately. 'Cause this change is good, too.