The Perfect Gift

Christmas 2014

 

I remember as a child the anticipation I felt waiting for Christmas and Santa. I didn't worry about shopping for that perfect gift for anyone. The beginning of the Christmas season was not marked with sales and shopping at the mall. Nope....for me it was the night that a Charlie Brown Christmas came on TV.  From then until Christmas Eve, I marveled in the lights and sounds and smells of the season. As children, we were wrapped in the knowledge of our Savior's birth. I had such warm feelings in my heart.  Today, I believe that feeling to be the love of Christ and the feeling of goodwill.

Some years ago, I wrote a newsletter for our Sunday school class. And as I sat here this morning, looking at my Christmas tree, I remembered a short article I wrote for one of those newsletters pondering the same thoughts and feelings.

From the Agape News, December 1995:

CHRISTMAS

 

The mere utterance of the word conjures up memories of the sights,

Christmas goodies and turkeys roasting in the oven.

The clatter and clanging of the malls.

The hustling and bustling to buy that perfect gift.

But as good as the memories may be

and as we prepare and anticipate another Christmas season,

ponder these questions for a moment.

What does Christmas and the Christmas spirit really mean to you?

Is it really all of the above?

Or, could it be that the true spirit of Christmas,

the way you feel at Christmastime, good will toward others,

is the way God's Spirit really is?

We hope that as you celebrate this holiday season,

you truly understand the real meaning of Christmas.

And that your homes are full of love for your families

and for the Wonder and Awe of our Lord and Savior's Birth.

 

THE PERFECT GIFT!

 

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I have so many reasons to be happy this Christmas and I will wallow in them all. My children and grandchildren are on the way home to spend Christmas with Cliff and me. I can't wait to wrap my arms around Lidia and Sawyer.

 

Last night, Mama and I were discussing the menu for Christmas Eve. She said that she was thinking about not cooking collards this year, which is her specialty. I nearly went into convulsions! She then told me that she thought better of it and that she would add them to the menu. I exclaimed, "Good, because no collards at Christmas would just be blasphemy"! She giggled and we hung up. Well, I just got a call from her and she said, "I just want you to know that there will be no blasphemy at my house on Christmas Eve, I just finished cooking the collards".  Ha!  She so gets me!

 

Well, wrapping up, I just want to wish you all a Christmas full of peace and joy, love and goodwill. And, I hope that your new year will be filled with abundant blessings.

 

Merry Christmas,

Laurie