Each year when Christmas rolls around, I can't help but think of all the years gone by, and how much I have always loved this season. Sure, I looked forward to giving and receiving presents, but it was so much more.
It’s the feeling I get when memories flood my mind of spending time with my mom, sisters and brothers. Dad left when I was young, but he would come for an afternoon from out of town to visit, and he would bring us each a gift, and a giant candy cane. I loved seeing my dad, but my Mom was always there for us, and I appreciate her more than she ever knew.
The time spent with my family was so special, and I miss them so much. We would get a tree if we could afford one, or we used a second-hand artificial tree mom had stored away if we couldn’t. We made decorations of paper chains, strings of popcorn, tinsel made of aluminum foil cut into thin strips, and some strings of mismatched lights.
Then mom would put one thing on the tree, that one of my sisters says “was something she didn’t particularly like,” but mom did. She would place Angel Hair on the tree. My mother used to spend what felt like hours teasing it all out and spreading it around our tree to give it an almost snowy look. The white “angel hair” was spun fiberglass, which is what allowed that beautiful drape and give the tree a shimmering uniformity, but is dangerous and was later taken off the market (but hey, mom loved it).
I loved the colorful old wrapping paper, the ribbons, bows, and all the different colors and designs. It was especially fun to wrap the presents, but of course I was all thumbs when trying to make it look just right. It was also a challenge to hide the presents, which was necessary, because one of my sisters (she knows who she is) liked to pull back the wrapping to find out what people were getting.
We would stay awake until midnight on Christmas Eve listening to Christmas music on the record player and watching Christmas movies on our black and white television. We would eat popcorn balls and other treats my mom and my sisters made. Mom would open her Bible and we would open ours. She would read the Christmas story and we marveled at the greatest story ever told about our God who sent His Son to be born in a lowly manger. How one day He would die and raise again, and if we accepted Him as our Savior, we could spend eternity with Him and each other forever.
Then, when midnight arrived, we would all shout Merry Christmas and open our gifts. What a great and exciting time that was.
How I miss those days, and I miss my family that has gone on to be with Jesus. One day, sometime in the future, we will all be together again, and that will be a Christmas event that will last for eternity. Thank you Jesus!
Blessings,
Pastor Chuck
It’s the feeling I get when memories flood my mind of spending time with my mom, sisters and brothers. Dad left when I was young, but he would come for an afternoon from out of town to visit, and he would bring us each a gift, and a giant candy cane. I loved seeing my dad, but my Mom was always there for us, and I appreciate her more than she ever knew.
The time spent with my family was so special, and I miss them so much. We would get a tree if we could afford one, or we used a second-hand artificial tree mom had stored away if we couldn’t. We made decorations of paper chains, strings of popcorn, tinsel made of aluminum foil cut into thin strips, and some strings of mismatched lights.
Then mom would put one thing on the tree, that one of my sisters says “was something she didn’t particularly like,” but mom did. She would place Angel Hair on the tree. My mother used to spend what felt like hours teasing it all out and spreading it around our tree to give it an almost snowy look. The white “angel hair” was spun fiberglass, which is what allowed that beautiful drape and give the tree a shimmering uniformity, but is dangerous and was later taken off the market (but hey, mom loved it).
I loved the colorful old wrapping paper, the ribbons, bows, and all the different colors and designs. It was especially fun to wrap the presents, but of course I was all thumbs when trying to make it look just right. It was also a challenge to hide the presents, which was necessary, because one of my sisters (she knows who she is) liked to pull back the wrapping to find out what people were getting.
We would stay awake until midnight on Christmas Eve listening to Christmas music on the record player and watching Christmas movies on our black and white television. We would eat popcorn balls and other treats my mom and my sisters made. Mom would open her Bible and we would open ours. She would read the Christmas story and we marveled at the greatest story ever told about our God who sent His Son to be born in a lowly manger. How one day He would die and raise again, and if we accepted Him as our Savior, we could spend eternity with Him and each other forever.
Then, when midnight arrived, we would all shout Merry Christmas and open our gifts. What a great and exciting time that was.
How I miss those days, and I miss my family that has gone on to be with Jesus. One day, sometime in the future, we will all be together again, and that will be a Christmas event that will last for eternity. Thank you Jesus!
Blessings,
Pastor Chuck
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