Christmas, The Good, The Sad and The Snugly!
I must say Christmas has always been my favourite time of year.
I would like to share a couple of my memories with you. As a child I always enjoyed Christmas, not because we had a lot in the material sense, but my family was large and we always got together on that day.
One of my best memories as a young adult came in the form of a young man! God brought him into my life at just the right time. He proposed on our second date (Boxing Day) and I said ‘yes’! Well actually, it was more like ‘sure’. Okay, we had known each other for nine years and had been good friends in our teens. We even dated a few times. Then after years of separation the inevitable happened. By the following Christmas we were married and the first of our four babies was on his way.
Sadly, after thirty four Christmases cancer stole him from us. That last Christmas we brought him home from the hospital for forty eight hours. All of our children and grandchildren were with us. It was good to be together, although there was a heavy, underlying sadness, knowing in our hearts that outside of a miracle, ( and I do believe in miracles, not ocnly at Christmas ) this would be the last time we would all be together. Three weeks later my husband was promoted into the presence of the Lord and Saviour he loved and served.
Christmas changed for our family then. Joy and meaning returned but it took on a different hue.
Four years later I was a newly wed again; God had brought to me another wonderful man and my family had more than doubled in size and capacity for fun!
With all of our kids raising their own ‘young’uns’ life becomes almost steroid-ridden when we get together; in a good way, of course. The smart retorts of the adults and older teens, the excitement of ‘middlers’ pulling a fast one on an auntie or uncle ( or most often Grandma )! Let’s not forget the adorable antics of the toddlers. Put it all together and it’s a yummy recipe for love and good times.
God loves family; He created the concept in the first place and I believe nothing gives Him greater pleasure than to see His children following His example of loving and giving at any time of the year.
There is no better opportunity to walk in love, acceptance and forgiveness than as we meander side by side through this amazing phenomenon we call ‘family’.
It all started on that very first Christmas. God sent His own son to this world to be born as a human, so that we could through Him have a relationship with our creator, God. This was a good day for the human race; actually even all of heaven rejoiced!
However, as a parent, I can’t help but wonder if God Himself didn’t feel a bit of sadness, knowing what His son would be facing. The nonchalance, the open rejection and abuse, culminating in a cruel death by crucifixion. He took this to buy us forgiveness, freedom and victory.
But then I think that maybe God was seeing the end result of expanding His family. He desires to have a relationship and that was made possible through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Christmas may be a happy time for you, or it may invoke many sad memories. Maybe you feel the warmth of family and loving relationships or maybe you are left feeling very much alone.
I invite you to join God’s family; there’s nothing like it. Let’s take a hand and walk together on our way to the party!
I would like to share a couple of my memories with you. As a child I always enjoyed Christmas, not because we had a lot in the material sense, but my family was large and we always got together on that day.
One of my best memories as a young adult came in the form of a young man! God brought him into my life at just the right time. He proposed on our second date (Boxing Day) and I said ‘yes’! Well actually, it was more like ‘sure’. Okay, we had known each other for nine years and had been good friends in our teens. We even dated a few times. Then after years of separation the inevitable happened. By the following Christmas we were married and the first of our four babies was on his way.
Sadly, after thirty four Christmases cancer stole him from us. That last Christmas we brought him home from the hospital for forty eight hours. All of our children and grandchildren were with us. It was good to be together, although there was a heavy, underlying sadness, knowing in our hearts that outside of a miracle, ( and I do believe in miracles, not ocnly at Christmas ) this would be the last time we would all be together. Three weeks later my husband was promoted into the presence of the Lord and Saviour he loved and served.
Christmas changed for our family then. Joy and meaning returned but it took on a different hue.
Four years later I was a newly wed again; God had brought to me another wonderful man and my family had more than doubled in size and capacity for fun!
With all of our kids raising their own ‘young’uns’ life becomes almost steroid-ridden when we get together; in a good way, of course. The smart retorts of the adults and older teens, the excitement of ‘middlers’ pulling a fast one on an auntie or uncle ( or most often Grandma )! Let’s not forget the adorable antics of the toddlers. Put it all together and it’s a yummy recipe for love and good times.
God loves family; He created the concept in the first place and I believe nothing gives Him greater pleasure than to see His children following His example of loving and giving at any time of the year.
There is no better opportunity to walk in love, acceptance and forgiveness than as we meander side by side through this amazing phenomenon we call ‘family’.
It all started on that very first Christmas. God sent His own son to this world to be born as a human, so that we could through Him have a relationship with our creator, God. This was a good day for the human race; actually even all of heaven rejoiced!
However, as a parent, I can’t help but wonder if God Himself didn’t feel a bit of sadness, knowing what His son would be facing. The nonchalance, the open rejection and abuse, culminating in a cruel death by crucifixion. He took this to buy us forgiveness, freedom and victory.
But then I think that maybe God was seeing the end result of expanding His family. He desires to have a relationship and that was made possible through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Christmas may be a happy time for you, or it may invoke many sad memories. Maybe you feel the warmth of family and loving relationships or maybe you are left feeling very much alone.
I invite you to join God’s family; there’s nothing like it. Let’s take a hand and walk together on our way to the party!
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