Month: December 2023

PUTTING AWAY CHRISTMAS

The older I get, the more difficult it becomes to decorate the house for Christmas.  It requires boxes of decorations being brought down from the attic, rearranging my furniture; ladders, and boxes and boxes of ornaments, greenery, and other assorted decorations to be put out; and at least two days of physical work that leave Jerry and I with backaches and stiff muscles.   We like to put everything up early so we have a long time to enjoy our tree and everything that goes with it. 

Of course, what goes up must come down.  That requires two more days of hard work and many trips up and down the stairs. After all the garlands and lights and ornaments are put away, I feel a mixture of emotions. I know I will be glad to get my house back in order, but I will miss the lights of the Christmas tree in the mornings when I get up and drink my coffee from a favorite Christmas mug.  And I miss the anticipation of Christmas.    

I love everything about Christmas: the lights, the music, the smells, the foods, and most of all, the relationships. I love carving out special times for special people…friends and family.  Our family keeps growing and changing, and with that needs change. We are going to need to alter our Christmas traditions next year. We now have married grandchildren, so in addition to the families of our sons-in-law, we have to schedule around another layer of in-laws who also want time. We have college grandchildren who return home at various times and a working granddaughter who lives out of state and can only be home for a few days. Even our grands that live here have work schedules and constant activities we must work around. Twenty-four people with twenty-four different needs. 

As I put away Christmas this year, I have no idea what it will look like next year. For this mother hen who loves all her chicks close to the nest, it is hard to be flexible, but that is what I must be. As for Jerry and I, we are acutely aware that this is another bonus Christmas after his close brush with death a few years ago. We now have more widowed friends, and the number grows every year. Maybe it is the knowledge that time is running out that makes me treasure each Christmas. I used to tease my grandmother for saying, “I wonder how many more Christmases we will have to all be together.”  Now I get it. 

I guess relationships are the most important part of Christmas.  After all, relationship is the reason we have Christmas in the first place.  God desired a relationship with man, so he came to earth to dwell among us and provide a way for us to be in relationship with Him.  

As I pack away Christmas, I want to keep part of it all year long.  My greatest gifts are my relationships.  My relationship with Jesus is primary.  But my family is my treasure.  I’m so blessed to have my husband and our children, grandchildren, and now four little greats!  We are so blessed to be a part of a large and loving family.  We are a part of a vibrant and loving church family.  We are blessed with many friends and acquaintances we enjoy.  

Thank you, Lord for Christmas.  Help me to celebrate all year long! 

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  Psalm 90:12 (NIV).  

LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered–how fleeting my life is.  Psalm 39:4 (NLT).

The older I get, the more difficult it becomes to decorate the house for Christmas.  It requires boxes of decorations being brought down from the attic, rearranging my furniture; ladders, and boxes and boxes of ornaments, greenery, and other assorted decorations to be put out; and at least two days of physical work that leave Jerry and I with backaches and stiff muscles.   We like to put everything up early so we have a long time to enjoy our tree and everything that goes with it. 

Of course, what goes up must come down.  That requires two more days of hard work and many trips up and down the stairs. After all the garlands and lights and ornaments are put away, I feel a mixture of emotions. I know I will be glad to get my house back in order, but I will miss the lights of the Christmas tree in the mornings when I get up and drink my coffee from a favorite Christmas mug.  And I miss the anticipation of Christmas.    

I love everything about Christmas: the lights, the music, the smells, the foods, and most of all, the relationships. I love carving out special times for special people…friends and family.  Our family keeps growing and changing, and with that needs change. We are going to need to alter our Christmas traditions next year. We now have married grandchildren, so in addition to the families of our sons-in-law, we have to schedule around another layer of in-laws who also want time. We have college grandchildren who return home at various times and a working granddaughter who lives out of state and can only be home for a few days. Even our grands that live here have work schedules and constant activities we must work around. Twenty-four people with twenty-four different needs. 

As I put away Christmas this year, I have no idea what it will look like next year. For this mother hen who loves all her chicks close to the nest, it is hard to be flexible, but that is what I must be. As for Jerry and I, we are acutely aware that this is another bonus Christmas after his close brush with death a few years ago. We now have more widowed friends, and the number grows every year. Maybe it is the knowledge that time is running out that makes me treasure each Christmas. I used to tease my grandmother for saying, “I wonder how many more Christmases we will have to all be together.”  Now I get it. 

I guess relationships are the most important part of Christmas.  After all, relationship is the reason we have Christmas in the first place.  God desired a relationship with man, so he came to earth to dwell among us and provide a way for us to be in relationship with Him.  

As I pack away Christmas, I want to keep part of it all year long.  My greatest gifts are my relationships.  My relationship with Jesus is primary.  But my family is my treasure.  I’m so blessed to have my husband and our children, grandchildren, and now four little greats!  We are so blessed to be a part of a large and loving family.  We are a part of a vibrant and loving church family.  We are blessed with many friends and acquaintances we enjoy.  

Thank you, Lord for Christmas.  Help me to celebrate all year long! 

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.  Psalm 90:12 (NIV).  

LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered–how fleeting my life is.  Psalm 39:4 (NLT).

LET THERE BE LIGHT

The light in our closet went out Saturday night, right as we were getting ready for bed. It is a florescent light and we were out of florescent tubes. I don’t know why but burned out lights really bother me. I used to have nightmares about all the lights in the house going out and being out of light bulbs. Saturday had been a busy day, so we decided to pick up some tubes after church the next day.  That meant on Sunday morning we would be picking out clothes by the light of our cell phones.

         Jerry: “Does this sweater go with these pants?” 

         Me: “Umm, no.  Try again.”

I was still thinking about light (and darkness) when we went to our small group. Our lesson was on the first chapter of Genesis and I was reminded again about the importance of light. Evidently I am not the only one who thinks light is essential, because God created it on the very first day. God, in His orderly fashion of creation knew that light is vital to sustain the earth. Light from the sun warms the earth, and provides energy for plants to grow. Without light, the earth would be an uninhabitable ball of ice. 

One of the main reasons humans need light is to see.  Without light we would be stumbling around in the darkness, trying to avoid obstacles. We would get lost. We could not survive. Sean Dietrich is a writer that I follow and you should too. He is a gifted storyteller and a keen observe of the world. Sean likes to write about a blind dog named Marigold that he rescued. Marigold needs Sean to be her eyes, her light. In fact, experts say Marigold would not have survived without Sean. You can read Marigold’s sad backstory on Sean’s website.  

As we move into the Christmas season, think about God sending His Son to be the Light of the World. God knew that we need light for our physical lives as well as our spiritual lives. Without Jesus we are spiritually blind and dead. When Jesus enters your life you can see! You can see your spiritual condition, how lost you are. When you invite him into your life, He becomes your vision!  You see things in a different way.  And you are no longer dead. The minute you say, “yes” to Christ, you begin your eternal life.

Just as Marigold cannot survive without Sean, we cannot survive without Jesus. Oh we may think we can. In fact, we may think we are doing pretty well without Him.  But our story is not over yet. We can’t see our true condition because we are spiritually blind.

Jerry and I have been moved to pray for our world, for another Great Awakening that we believe is coming. So many are stumbling around in darkness. They are trying to live a life blindly. The Gospel of John declares Jesus as “the true light which gives light to everyone.”  Jesus spoke of Himself as the Light of the world, “whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

With the coming of Christmas there are so many items on our “to do” lists.  Shopping, wrapping, cleaning, cooking, and entertaining. With that much to do it will be easy to miss the light. If you are reading these words, this is my prayer for you: If you have never received this light named Jesus, I would urge you to take a moment, bow your head and confess your need for Him. Invite Him into your life to light your way. If you would like to know more about the Light, read the first chapter of John. For those of you who already believe, I pray that you slow down and take some time each day to talk with Jesus and thank Him for entering our dark world and changing it forever.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that light was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5 NIV