Christmas Day

Christmas morning has dawned bright and sunny. That is a welcomed environment with which to celebrate the day. I don't know about you but once Christmas finally gets here I feel as if it has already been over celebrated . Now I know we can't over celebrate the gift of the Son of God but we sure can do and do over celebrate our everything about Christmas. I met one lady in line at Costco. She looked like a normal person just like me. Ha. Am I normal? Not. Anyway she and I struck up a conversation and her words were, "people have everything they need here, and I'm so weary of shopping to buy something just to buy something." Yes, I concur.

Ken and Isaiah just left for church. OHHHH....that means she stayed home on Christmas Day. That is exactly what it means. The truth is that on our way back from Flint yesterday we were in the St Joe area at just before five oclock when we knew John's church was having their Christmas eve service. It was delightful to join with John's family and Kim's parents in celebrating the birth of Jesus in a darkened sanctuary lighted only at the end with each person's candle light. We sang many favorite carols and the praise team lead in a very tasteful way. It's always fun to listen to John recall things of his childhood. Last night was no exception as he spoke of going to Wisconsin as a little child to have Christmas with uncles, aunts and cousins. John's third son, Kyle, age nine, sang the last verse of Away in a Manger as a solo. That brought back so many memories as that was the prayer we taught our little children to pray before bedtime. When Isaiah was born and we had a grandchild to put to bed, he too, learned this verse and each night we sang it to the familiar and not so familiar tunes. Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay, close by me for ever and love me I pray. Bless all the dear children in thy tender care and take me to heaven to live with thee there. Those words seemed so much more comforting than the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep prayer. As I child, I didn't like praying "and if I should die before I wake..." Now that I'm older the prayer is easy to say but then, not so much.

Our prayer for each of us this Christmas is that Jesus will be near you always, that He will hold you close and love you, that He will bless all those you love and eventually take you with Him to His house in heaven.

Now I will straighten the house and get packed as much as possible. Tomorrow is the day we leave for Florida...bright and early. So, I have many miles to go before I sleep today. Blessings to each of you.