Monday was my day off and I was enjoying sitting in the family room listening to my 7-year old granddaughter and 3-year old grandson play together.They were apparently playing house and my granddaughter, Lauren, was taking the role of the dominate wife and Reuben was playing the role of the passive husband, ignoring her, just like the real thing.
Lauren said, “Now, Reuben, I know you don’t like buying me Christmas presents, and you really don’t like wrapping them, so why don’t you just not bother. Make it easy on yourself and just make it in tens and twenties.” Fortunately, I had the newspaper up over my face, because I just about lost it. I think those two kids have marriage down pretty well already.
What have you heard a kid saying recently?
Tags: children, Christmas, marriage
Today is Christmas Eve. The church office is closed and we’re having Christmas with our family. Children grow up and then there is the conflict over holidays like Christmas. Its overwhelming when you have to lug children in their car seats to more than one house in one day, and the kids hardly get to enjoy their gifts. So, this year, we arranged with our sons to let them have Christmas Day with the other side of the family provided they spent Christmas Eve with us. So today is our Christmas.
Anita and I have determined we will allow our adult children to make whatever arrangements they choose for Christmas and other holidays. We refuse to add to the stress of parenting by demanding they accommodate our schedule. The Bible says, “It is not for the children to lay up for the parents, but the parents to lay up for the children” (2 Corinthians 12:4).
How do you deal with family gatherings for Christmas?
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Tags: Christmas, fellowship, stress
Every December I make a special appointment. I always take the man I consider my pastor out to lunch and treat him like I want to be treated. He has a great interest in the Civil War, so I try to give him some unique gift with a Civil War connection. This year I gave him two DVDs: The 1980s mini-series The Blue and the Gray, and a 2007 movie called The Last Confederate. I also gave him a rather worn 1864 5¢ currency bill printed by the government to replace coins because of a shortage of metal during the war.
I love to see the lights go on in his head when he opens the gifts. I make sure to tithe my Christmas bonus to him and pick up the tab! We have a delightful time talking about our mutual friends in ministry and, of course, our mutual aches and pains. I know this luncheon will happen each year just before Christmas, so I plan all year long what to get him, which gives me time to be creative.
That is one of the highlights of my Christmas celebration. Do you have a special friend you get a special gift for each year? Tell us about it.
Tags: Christmas, Civil War, gifts
Monday evening Anita talked me into going out caroling with the Caroling Choir. There were ten of us that drove around to 7 or 8 shut-in families. It was bitter cold out, but getting back in the vehicles between stops made it a lot easier. It was worth it to see the delighted smiles on people’s faces. And Cora Tuttle gave us each a freshly baked cookie.
That’s the spirit of Christmas, to be able to bring joy to someone else. Parents usually focus upon the children to see that joy, but have you ever thought of passing that on to someone who can’t give it back? To bless someone who is down and out just to see them smile is what brings Christmas joy!
Here’s your assignment: Identify someone who can’t bless you back and bless them. Then get back on this blog and report to us what you did and how it made you feel. I’ll read every one.
Tags: blessings, caroling, Christmas
When I was a child my parents bought this little wire fence to put around the Christmas tree to keep little destructive people like me out of the tree. Christmas trees were all live back then. Dad would bring a tree home on top of the car a week or so before Christmas, but it was always Mom’s job to decorate it. Those were the days when light bulbs were bright colors and were an inch and half long. We had these little ‘candles’ that were oil filled. When the oil heated it made little bubbles that kept rising up the clear tube. We always bought a package of tinsel to simulate ice-cycles, had various hand-made ornaments, and a big string of popcorn we hand stitched with thread. In my parents’ home, we always placed a star at the top of the tree. The only gifts under the tree prior to Christmas morning were those that came from outside our family.
My parents were the ‘Builder Generation’ and they wanted to make sure their kids had what they didn’t. There was always an air of poverty in our house during the year, but my parents made Christmas a big thing for us kids. We always got new jeans (too long, so I had to roll them up), toys, and usually one larger item, like a bicycle, B-B gun or record player. I believe Christmas was the high-point of my year because of the gifts.
Back then, there was little thought about the birth of Christ. It was all about Santa Claus and the gifts. I guess that shows what a long way I’ve progressed since those non-Christian days. Today Christmas has such deeper meaning; its more about giving to bless others than it is about receiving.
What’s your memory of your Christmas tree upbringing?
Tags: Christmas
Children were arranging the figures of Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child in the little manger scene. They lighted two candles and carefully tried them in various positions until the light fell exactly where they wanted it. One child excitedly said, “Be sure that Jesus shows!”
What if that thought could be foremost in our daily lives – “Be sure Jesus shows.” Like the candles, we can direct attention to Christ in our daily actions and proclaim to our neighbors that we are genuine Christians.
What are you going to do today to make sure Jesus shows?
Tags: Christmas, evangelism, witness
Today is the first Day of Christmas! Actually, the early church recognized 12 days of the Christmas season from Christmas Day (December 25) to Epiphany (January 5). The Greek Orthodox church had slightly different dates, but the concept was the same. During the 16th century there were some ugly holy wars going on in England between the Roman Catholic Church and its rival, the Episcopal Church. During that time many Christians had to go underground with their faith.
The song we know today as The Twelve Days of Christmas was an attempt to get children to learn scriptural concepts without exposing their faith. Or, an underground song with hidden meaning. Each day we’ll examine another verse in this song.
Day One: “On the first day of Christmas my True Love sent to me: A Partridge in a Pear Tree“. God is our True Love. He sent His Son, Jesus. Jesus was born on Christmas Day. He was like a valued partridge in a tree bearing fruit.
No greater gift has ever been given but one that sacrifices Himself for us. Let’s celebrate Jesus’ birth this Christmas.
Tags: Christmas, incarnation, love