Two Christmas Stories - The Reason for the Season

Photo Credit: zoetheband.blogspot.com

Christmas - a time of joy and love. It was great of so many of you to share your favorite Christmas memories with me. Some of the stories made me smile. Some brought tears to my eyes. Some echoed my own favorite memories of special Christmases with family. And some spoke of the reason for the season - the gift of love that is Jesus Christ. 

The two stories I've saved for this Christmas Day speak of the best gifts - those of Christian love and family love. First  A.C.'s story. "The Christmas that stands out to me most is very personal but I wanted to share it because of what it meant to me for others to be so giving and that's why to this day I give every chance I can to help others. You never know when you may need that Special Angel or Angels. 

   My Grandmother was very ill and I was going though a divorce and on top of that I was laid off work. I knew Christmas was around the corner and it was going to be a hard one. I didn't let anyone know what I was going thru (it was a pride thing) but I kept my head high and struggled each day. 

   I had a very good friend who invited me to her church. A very small community church where everyone knew each other. I kept finding every excuse I could, as to why I should not go and that worked for awhile. I said my prayers at night but I still had my pride and I didn't want to ask anyone for help. After awhile I finally gave in and decided I would go to the church with my sweet friend to the next Sunday night service. The devil tried every way possible for me not to make it but I had made a promise to a special friend who was dealing with the early stages of ALS. 

   That Sunday night rolled around and I went, dragging my feet. Little did I know God had a reason for putting me there at that time and I cannot tell you how much my life was blessed. My friend had talked with the Pastor and explained my hardship and the church adopted my family for Christmas. I was so touched with all the wonderful things that the people of her church were doing for me. We had a wonderful Christmas, I had a new extended Church family and a better relationship with God. I don't know what I would have done without their help.
    I think about what my friend did for me and I try to give as much as I can and as often as I can. God called my friend home shortly after that but I will remember her forever, especially at Christmas time and dedicate what I can do in Honor of her. So that's my Blessing at Christmas time, to help others during their hard times.

Thanks, A.C., for sharing your story and for giving forward. 

The next story Danielle shares is one a lot of servicemen and women's families are experiencing this Christmas with the soldiers coming home from Iraq. Here's Danielle's story. 
   " My favorite memory of Christmas was when I was in middle school. My aunt was deployed in the army in Germany, so we weren't able to see her for 2 years. On Christmas Eve there was a knock at our door and there she was! It was the happiest time ever. She was home for good. I will never forget that feeling I had when I answered the door after not seeing her for so long. My sisters and I never left her side. We sang Christmas carols. She shared stories about her living in Germany and pictures. She even brought us gifts and showed us all the letters she kept from us girls."

Christmas is a time for giving and a time for families. I hope the stories I've shared have blessed you as much as they have me. Merry Christmas! "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." John 1:4 (NIV)  

Christmas Deadlines

"Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons." - Ruth Ann Schabacker.



December is almost here. That means Christmas is right around the corner with all the traditional activities. There's the reason for the season - the birth of the Savior. That's good to keep in the center of our thoughts. Shepherds in the field watching their flocks. Angels singing on a starry night. A baby born in a stable and laid in a manger. Wise men bringing gifts. Beautiful images of the greatest gift. Christmas carols and songs that make those holy goosebumps crawl up your back. Kids in bathrobes being shepherds and wise men. Sparkling lights and decorated houses.
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I love Christmas. Really I do. It's just that it has gotten so it comes around so much faster than it used to. Every two of three months or so it seems. And it's like having a bunch of new deadlines. The getting the cards in the mail deadline. Shopping for gifts deadline. Decorating trees deadline. Baking cookies deadline. Wrapping those gifts deadline. As mothers and grandmothers, we feel like it's up to us to keep the traditions going. Our mothers did it. Our grandmothers did it. So we must do the same. We want to get the gifts that will bring smiles. We want to cook all the favorite foods. We want to make the day perfect for everybody.
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It's that making things perfect deadline that is so hard to meet. As much as we want to make things perfect, that rarely happens. The tree is a bit crooked on its stand. The rolls are a little overdone. The cake cracks in the middle. The sweater doesn't fit. The toy doesn't entrance. Santa forgets to buy batteries. Somebody comes down with a virus and spends Christmas in the bathroom. You get the idea. All those things have happened to us at some Christmas in the past. But this Christmas you still want things to be perfect. You want Aunt Suzy and Uncle Bill not to argue about politics. You want the kids to be sweet and generous and not overtired and cranky. You want to eat that piece of jam cake with the caramel frosting and not think about the extra five pounds you're going to have to lose next week. You want to say, "Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus." And so each December you wipe away the less than perfect memories and remember all the wonderful times. You might not remember your favorite gift, but you remember how you felt because you felt loved. That's the tradition we're all trying to hang on to. The tradition of love.
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Hope you'll meet all your deadlines and find those perfect gifts and most of all that the warm feeling of love will wrap around your family and then it won't matter so much if Aunt Suzy and Uncle Bill don't think alike on politics. They're family and they're loved. Enjoy the gift of each and every day.