Christmas Memories

Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. Psalm 145:4

Often when we think of mighty acts we remember things like the opening of the Red Sea, Jesus calming the storm or maybe a more recent event like the launching of a space shuttle. By God's measurement the changing of a single human heart is an act of greatest importance. As Christmases come and go and as I get older I am remembering the forces that shaped my own heart and that turned it towards Jesus during the season of Christmas. Here are just a few precious memories that remain like bright candles burning in my heart.
     Mom used to sit with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn and a dish of cranberries. She would string them together with a needle and thread ten popcorn kernels then a cranberry and she would sing the Christmas carols to me. All the Carols I know now by heart I learned there, not from a recording artist,but from Mom!!
     I remember my kindergarten teacher (In public school) bringing us around her feet like little lambs around their shepherdess. The she began to tell us the Christmas story of Jesus being in the manger in Bethlehem. I could almost imagine myself being there in the cold shivering next to the shepherds and looking under the swaddling cloths to see the baby Jesus!
     Our first Christmas together as a couple was simple to the extreme. We had no money to buy a tree or make a dinner until on Christmas Eve when I found a $50 bonus in the pay envelope. That was nearly a week's wages! After supper my wife and I took our little son and raced downtown! We picked out a tree from the few remaining stragglers(It was $5). Then we went to Woolworth's and picked through the leftover ornaments. What an excitement we had as we went home and decorated our tiny apartment. We really gave God thanks for how He had provided us those special joys for Christmas. I don't remember even a single gift either given or received that year, but the golden memories remain etched in my heart forever.
    These simple memories are precious because they point back to a simple memory of the day in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. So when Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem that afternoon and found no room at the inn it was also a small joy to find a resting place near the cows and donkeys in the stable. Mary had no friends or family near to be with her in her hour of labor. Only Joseph was with her do what he could. So there, in the lonely stable she gave birth, wrapped her son in simple cloths and wearily laid him to rest in the feeding trough of the animals. Then God, who had watched silently all through that night, sent an angel to shepherds who were resting nearby in the fields. They brought that first good news message on that first night to tell the mystery of the birth of Jesus, the Messiah and Lord. Imagine the amazement in Joseph and Mary's minds, as the shepherds came trembling in, telling what they had seen and heard. As they left the Bible tells us that Mary treasured up these memories in her heart keeping them for the day when she could really know their full meaning.
     This Christmas as God gives you quiet fleeting moments when you sense Him working in your life, pause and treasure them in your heart. Let them rest there like on a page in a scrapbook. His amazing plan both for the world and for your life has many pages. Some are pages of busyness and hard work. Some are pages of laughter and friends. Some are pages filled with pain and rejection. On those darker pages when the world has pushed you and pulled you and you don't know where to go don't let despair close the book. With trembling hands open to the pages that remind you of how God came close. Our hope in Him is not a thing of only temporary value. It doesn't depend on our own strength or planning. In fact God has written an amazing ending to the book of our life if we will just be willing to continue reading through pages and chapters of pain. One day the page will turn and there will be the face of Jesus. Then we will understand that rather than being the end it will only be the beginning of the most astonishing chapter of all!