Christmas

Light Shines in the Darkness

Have you experienced the aurora borealis, better known as the northern lights? These glowing lights appear in the clear skies of several northern countries. Alaska is the best place to view them in the US from late August through mid-April between 9:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.

Most commonly, the light glows green or white, but may appear pink or red. I’ve seen pictures with yellow, blue, and purple too.

The aurora borealis shines light that may be seen in the darkest hours of the year, and Christ came to reveal God’s light to us in our darkest hours.

As I read the following verse earlier this week, I considered the birth of my Savior and Lord. The reference to light guides us through the story of our Lord’s birth.

Light shines in the darkness for the godly.
Psalm 112:4a, NLT

Shepherds kept watch over their sheep at night when an angel appeared.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
Luke 2:9, ESV

An angel brought them the good news that their Savior was born. The shepherds hurried to find this miracle baby.

Eight days later, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple to be circumcised. A righteous man, Simeon, took the baby in his arms and praised God.

I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!
Luke 2:30-32, NLT 

Simeon prophesied Jesus was the light.

Also, light shone in the darkness and led the way for wise men from the east to follow a bright star for many miles to worship the King.

And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
Matthew 2:9b-10, ESV

Christ is the light who shines in the darkness. He led lowly shepherds and mighty wise men to Him by revealing His light. He continues to shine His light through us and leads us on our way.

Have you submitted your life to the Lord? If not, this Christmas could be your merriest one ever if you surrender yourself to Him.

Allow Christ to not only fill you with His light but with His hope, peace, joy and love.

Shine through us, Lord. May we honor You in what we say and do.

Merry Christmas!

Home For The Holidays

Two weeks ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving with family for the first time in thirteen years. I’m grateful to be home for the holidays and look forward to Christmas. Although we traveled from New Mexico to Tennessee to spend Christmas together most years while we lived away, it’s great to live near our family again.

While in New Mexico, traditions changed. We often traveled for Thanksgiving and toured the Southwest. Over the years, we visited Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Park in southern New Mexico; the old western town of Tombstone, Arizona; San Diego, California; and San Antonio, Texas. We made family memories on these trips with our youngest daughter.

Traditions changed in Tennessee while we were gone too. We weren’t sure we could arrange for everyone to gather for dinner this year, but I thank the Lord it worked out. Our oldest daughter often gets together with her in-laws, but they planned to celebrate on Saturday. Our daughter-in-law usually shares the day with her family, but they were out of town. Everything worked well for us except for missing our oldest grandson. He’s in the marching band at Mississippi State and had a game. We enjoyed time with him later that weekend.

Instead of our typical turkey, hubby cooked two delicious chickens in the smoker. We also prepared several traditional sides and pumpkin pie for dessert. I’d made a Waldorf salad but forgot to take it out of the fridge. I ate all of it over the next few days.

Christmas plans for Christmas Eve include our three families attending church together late that afternoon and then meeting in our home for an Italian dinner. And, of course, open gifts around the tree.

Another holiday treat happens this weekend. With living 1200 miles away, we couldn’t invite our youngest grandchildren over to spend the night with Papa and Nana. Our granddaughter, age eleven, and our grandson, age eight, will spend the night with us for the first time. We plan to take them to a drive-through Christmas light display and play games while they are with us.

I’m thankful for many things. Family is near the top of my list, and I’m grateful to be home for the holidays to spend quality time with them. Wishing you and your family a healthy and merry Christmas!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1, NIV

Photo by Jed Owen - Unsplash

God With Us

This week we celebrate the miracle of Christ’s birth. Our hope for eternity—God with us.

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:23, NIV

Christ came to deliver us from our sin and offer us eternal life with Him. No greater gift can we receive. No greater love can be shown.

In thinking about the greatest gift I’ve received, not counting eternal life with Christ, I’d have to say my family. From my parents and siblings to my husband, three children and their spouses, and my three grandchildren. I treasure these gifts and am grateful.

I’ve contemplated what my life would look like if I hadn’t followed Christ. My husband, if I married, would have been someone else, which would have affected everything in my life. I imagine it would have been a life of wandering, searching for truth, enduring loneliness, and living in hopelessness.

But with Christ—God with us—I’ve found peace, joy, hope, and love. He came for those very reasons. He supplies my needs and holds me in His arms.

What greater love than the gift of life—eternal life with Christ?

The first verse I committed to memory after receiving Christ into my life was Joshua 1:9. Why this verse? Because Satan tried to steal my peace, joy, hope, and love with his lies and fear. I needed to know that the Lord was with me always, and the eternal life I received from Him was mine to keep.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

God offers to deliver us from our sin and give us an eternal hope when we believe and follow Him. He will be with us every step of the way.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10, NIV

What a wonderful gift from our Lord! Have you received eternal life in Christ? Make this your best Christmas and put your hope in Immanuel—God with us.

Merry Christmas!

Photo by Phil Hearing - Unsplash

Christmas Traditions and Memories

My youngest grandson’s teacher asked grandparents to write a letter to her class and describe our family’s Christmas traditions when we were young. I shared much of this post in my letter. If I could relive one day from childhood, I’d choose this memory of our family together on Christmas Day.

Mom and Dad loaded my two older brothers, younger sister, and me into their Ford station wagon after we opened our gifts at home. We traveled across town to my grandparents’ house. There were eight adults and nine children together in a crowded living room. We ate a big dinner of ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, fruit salad, and my grandmother’s pumpkin pie and crumb cake. My grandmother was a good cook. She made mincemeat pies with apples, meat, and raisins, but I stuck up my nose at those.

When I was five, I wanted to be near my great-grandmother and hold her hand. She always sat in her favorite chair in the kitchen where she could watch everyone there and everyone in the living room too. In her hand she always held an embroidered hankie edged with lace. When she died, my grandmother gave me one of great-grandma’s hankies to remember her.

My cousin and I sat together in this big old chair every year. I don’t remember who got the honor of sitting in that chair once we grew too big and no longer fit in it together.

I looked forward to something my grandfather did for us. He emptied walnut shells, put coins inside, and glued the shells back together. He then hung them on a small tree. They looked like little ornaments. How he cracked them open without destroying them I’ll never know. After we ate our dinner on Christmas Day, he gave us permission to pick a walnut from the tree to find out what it held. We received pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Thought we were rich!

Grandpa then handed out each gift, one at a time, and we opened it before he handed out the next gift. He wanted to make sure everyone saw what we received and heard us tell the gift-giver, “Thank you.”

So much fun! I enjoyed being together with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to celebrate Christmas as a family. 

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you and your families share special memories for years to come.

Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2: 10-11, NKJV

What are your favorite childhood memories of Christmas?

Photo by Ben White - Unsplash

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