Christmas Eve Day

I sit here alone in the quiet of the afternoon, not ready yet to put all the food in the crocks to heat for the Zuvers' Christmas Eve dinner.  Pre-cooked meats are the best when it comes to cooking for large groups!


Don and I have had a good visit with my Dad at his home in Fulton County Manor.  Did a couple of errands for him, when you are 91 and in nursing care the busy prep work of Christmas Dinners are lost to you.  So off we went to pick up some under clothing he must have and some gift cards he wants to give.


I feel so blessed to have my Dad, so doing a simple errand to see him happy is a very small thing to give.


One year ago tomorrow, Christmas day Mom passed, she was tired and just ready to rest for eternity.  No heart attack or stroke, no cancer or lung disease, just tired.  Alzheimer's disease took hold of her in her last year of life, we were so blessed that she stayed gentle and sweet, not bitter and angry.   Osteoporosis was the other disease she suffered with.


I have been pondering for a week or more now on how God came as a baby. (I first learned of Baby Jesus as a small child in the Fisher United Methodist Church).  Learning about Baby Jesus being God as man came later in my adult walk with Christ in the Morenci United Methodist Church.


We have family aging from 91 yrs. down to maybe 6 mos. old, and probably every age group in between!  As we watch these children grow and become adults, I wonder at the very thought of God growing through the same stages in His life here on earth.


We know very little about his childhood and his teen years, we can only wonder.  I believe he also met with the temptations of the era he lived here on earth. 


He knew childhood illness, relationship differences, the discipline of a parent and the resullting consequences.  He knew the grief of the death of loved ones. He knew riches and he knew poverty.  God knew what is was like to be loved, hated and rejected. 


Just 32 years spent on earth he gave us the greatest gift, love.


This evening as we begin to celebrate His birth, I will strife to share that love with all.


"It is the birthday of our King."


Luke 2: 6-7 "While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, and she gave birth to her first son. Because there were no rooms left in the inn, she wrapped the baby in pieces of cloth and laid him in a box where animals are fed."


For Andrew, Alex and Tanner, we have you in our hearts and we remember you too on this Christmas Day.  Our Christmas Wish gifts and letters are waiting for you.