christmas

Behold, the Lamb of God…

Do you remember the first time you saw your newborn baby’s face after nine long months of waiting? I do. I remember all three of their precious faces. I remember checking tiny little eyelashes and soft fine eyebrows. I counted baby fingers and toes. I marveled at their exquisite noses and tiny little ears. The amazing faces I’d waited so many months to see stared back at me in wonder.

I can only imagine what Mary thought when she gazed into the face of her newborn son. I wonder if, in her heart of hearts, she truly knew that she had just given birth to the long awaited Messiah. There in a stable on a bed of fresh straw, the Son of God had been born. An angel had appeared to Mary months before to tell her that she had found favor with God and was to bear a child. You remember the story. The angel had said “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Of course, Mary knew that she was a virgin and questioned how this could be. The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1: 26-38)

I’m sure Mary did just what you and I did as a parent. She talked soft baby talk to him. She listened to him coo. She soothed his cries. She made him laugh. She cared for him one day at the time and watched him grow. No doubt, as she cradled her newborn son in her arms and watched him sleeping peacefully, she remembered the angel’s words. Do you think – for just a moment – Mary had any idea tht she was holding the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in her arms? Clearly, the angel had told her that His kingdom would never end. If I had to guess, Mary was thinking her son’s destiny held something much greater than a wooden cross…but the cross was why Jesus was born.

Almighty God could have chosen any other amazing way to redeem this sinful world, but God Himself came, to you and to me, as a perfect baby. If you’ve not read the story in a while, find a comfortable chair by the window or in front of the fireplace…pick up your New Testament and just start reading. You’ll be amazed all over again. This sweet baby Jesus grew up and went to the cross to pay a debt that I owed – that you owe. He died for each of us. (Read John 3:16) Thank God that He didn’t stay in the grave! He’s alive and is coming again! Keep reading…that amazing story is in there too.

At this Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, I pray for each of you. I pray that you are well and surrounded by family and friends (unless you’re like me this year and many miles from them). I pray God’s richest blessings for each of you…

The Christmas Skates…

Family, My Southern Heart, Reflections

Christmas was always a wonderful time on Victor Drive. Not because there were elaborate gifts or fancy decorations, because there were neither of those, but because we were all together. There wasn’t a lot of money, and so I knew better than to ask for anything expensive. It was simply out of the question. Roller shoe skates were definitely more expensive than my parents could afford, but that didn’t keep me from hoping. I must have been about fourteen years old the Christmas I finally did a little more than hope and actually asked for shoe skates for Christmas.

Every Friday night, my friends and I went roller skating at the large indoor rink on Summer Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. I loved to skate. I loved to feel the breeze in my hair as I went around and around the rink as fast as I could. It felt like I was flying. I loved to skate to the music…it almost felt like dancing on skates. I had learned to skate backwards and thought that was the ultimate accomplishment at that age.

My children will tell you that I’m terrible at keeping secrets at Christmas. I want you to have what I bought you right now. I’M the one who can’t wait. So, about two weeks before Christmas 1959, I started snooping. The house wasn’t that large so where could they be? I finally found the roller skates under Mama and Daddy’s bed. I breathed a sigh of relief. They were actually there…I was getting roller skates for Christmas!

Christmas eve came and we all opened our gifts. No roller skates. Christmas morning came and no roller skates under the tree. I really can’t remember what else I got that Christmas. Christmas afternoon came and no roller skates. The way it all evolved is locked deep within the recesses of my memory…but the bottom line is Mama simply forgot. She forgot she had hidden my roller skates! I wish I could remember if I confessed or if she simply remembered on her own, but by Christmas evening, I was the proud owner of a pair of pristine white shoe skates.

I’d like to tell you that I’ve gotten better at keeping Christmas secrets, but…well, just ask my kids.

Christmas 1966…

Family, My Southern Heart, Reflections

It was our first Christmas together, and we were starting our own traditions. Christmas would always be special in our family…

Through the years, there have been many elaborate, beautiful Christmas trees…but none quite so special as this Charlie Brown Christmas tree. All that little tree had were colorful paper balls and tinsel.

I loved it just the same…

Traditions…

Family, My Southern Heart, Reflections

Mama cherished the holidays each year, because it meant we would all be together once again. Of course, there were other times throughout the year that the family gathered in one place, but the holidays were special. First, there was the Thanksgiving feast and just a few weeks later…Christmas.

Sometime during the week or so before Christmas, we would go to a small grocery store on Jackson Avenue that sold cut Christmas trees looking for that special tree. As I recall, it was usually a fragrant Cedar. Compared to our next door neighbor’s tree, which looked like Martha Stewart would have decorated it, our tree looked a bit like a Charlie Brown tree. There were only the large colored lights, a little red or green garland roping, a few ornaments and icicles, but Sharon and I thought it was beautiful.

As I recall, there weren’t a lot of presents each year, but I do recall one special gift. I must have been about fourteen that year. I had wanted my very own shoe skates and had actually found them hidden away a week or so before Christmas. Unfortunately, Mama forgot about them. She forgot to give them to me, and all the time, I knew where they were. I don’t remember now when she finally remembered them, but I did, finally, get them that Christmas.

Looking at the elaborate felt stockings I have now, I remember our Christmas stockings all those years ago…nylon hosiery stockings filled with oranges, apples, walnuts, pecans and candy. I remember all those little stockings filled and arranged in front of our Santa gifts under the tree. Looking back now, it seems we opened our gifts to one another on Christmas eve, and then Santa arrived on Christmas morning. Santa didn’t bring very much, but it was special all the same.

Our Christmas eve tradition was to have our evening meal, open gifts to one another and then drive around looking at all the spectacular displays of Christmas lights. There was one particular wealthy neighborhood that put up amazing displays of lighted Christmas decorations each year…all across their front lawns, trees and houses. My nieces, nephew and I could hardly wait for our meal to be over and gifts to be opened so we could go see the lights. It seems so simple with the telling, but it was a special time and a treasured memory.

As the years passed and we all grew up and had our own families, the traditions evolved. We took turns hosting the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Eventually, the next generations arrived, families grew larger and distances separated us…as it does now. Even so, the memories of those special times live on.