Thankful Thursday ~ Christmas Past



A Thankful Thursday post on Christmas Day? Yes, indeed! Log onto to Grace Alone and be inspired as we celebrate the birthday of Jesus today! The theme is thanking God for a special Christmas memory of the past.

A past Christmas memory for me that is meaningful was the Christmas I got engaged to my husband. It was hard to focus on the true meaning of Christmas that year. Family traditions surrounded us, but all I wanted to do was be with my man and dream about our future wedding day and talk about the life we would build together. Christmas morning came and my fiance knocked on the front door very early and whisked me off to the first church service so we could spend the whole day together. It was snowing when he picked me up and still snowing when he took me home that night. So we planned a summer wedding! Today, our daughters are grown, and we became grandparents this year. It's been a wonderful life of career challenges, raising children and working at keeping our love alive through the years. I thank God for these dreams of the past and especially for all His help through the years. This year marks our 37th year together celebrating Christmas!

I can't end this post without mentioning that I now look forward to another wedding day. Jesus promised to come back for His bride, the Body of Christ, and whisk us off to our new home where we'll be together for all eternity. It's going to be fabulous. It could happen at any time, even today!

Jesus tells a story of how the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to ten virgins who awaited the Bridegroom's coming for them. He was delayed, but when they heard the shout, only five of them had the sufficient oil to keep their lanterns lit. The other five had to go to the seller of oil to buy more and they missed the Bridegroom and the wedding! This great story is in Matthew 25.

As we celebrate the Christmas season, Jesus is my hope. He's coming again!
Merry Christmas, everyone.

Comments

  1. You have special memories and thank you for sharing. I used to wear my hair in a flip too. Too funny! May you and your family have a blessed Christmas.

    ReplyDelete

  2. What an awesome post and amazing tie-together!!! Thank you for that picture. What a happy, happy memory. Thank you for sharing today! Have a blessed Christmas.

    ReplyDelete

  4. 37 years - that's terrific! Merry Christmas and God bless.

    ReplyDelete

  5. Great post and special memory! Thanks for visiting my blog.

    ReplyDelete

  6. Amen. what a neat, neat post. Your life is a tribute to the Lord. thank you for sharing this special day with me.. Hugs. ... and His name shall be called Immanuel...

    ReplyDelete

  7. I love this picture of you and dad. Thank you for showing my sister and I what love is all about.

    ReplyDelete

  8. Okay, that picture is absolutely hysterically precious! 37 years and here ya are blogging about your sweetheart - betcha didn't see that one coming?! And AMEN from this choir member - Jesus IS coming again! Thanks for a beautiful post, Mary.

    So, get ready to be more jealous ... when I was in Florida with Keaton, John Travola lives there and his new dog movie, Bolt,opened and HE CAME TO THE THEATER and we saw him! Hey, next time I see him, I'll ask him to land his plane in your yard -- you know, just cuz I like ya and all.

    Signed: Kay the cool shopper with the VB hipster, and yes, your refurbished laptop counts as new!

    Hugs!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unwritten Songs

Image
Annie’s Song competed with the noise of sizzling bacon on the stove while my husband blended the ingredients for his famous blueberry waffles at the kitchen island.  I hung a big birthday banner in the dining room and anchored streamers to flow from the ceiling as a centerpiece over the table.
You fill up my senses like a night in the forest…the familiar old song played in the background on the kitchen radio.
The morning sunshine beamed through the windows as I set my dining room table for yet another special family gathering, Sookie’s birthday brunch.  Our granddaughter turned nine.  Last Saturday, her dad planned a busy, fun day.  He included us and I couldn’t wait for them to arrive.  I wouldn’t be able to go ice skating up in the mountain with the rest of the family but having a special breakfast together and opening presents gave me something to look forward to all week long!   
Papa Tom and I reminisced while we prepared the party food that morning and chatted about the oldie radio…
Read more

Scary Scars

Image
A young trouble-lovin’ neighbor boy managed to scare me back in my preschool days.  My mom sent me to our neighbor’s house where Freddie hid in the shrubs and jumped out at me wearing his Frankenstein mask loaded with scars.  I screamed every time.  

I’ve had to forgive Freddie for harassing me when these memories pop up.  I’m sure he grew up to be a swell guy and if I could remember his last name I would look him up on social media and yell at him.

Those Scars! The scars on the mask looked real to me, a six year old timid girl.  What is it about scars that creep us out like that?
When I think of scars, I think of pain.  I don’t like to see people suffer. 
Scars are areas of fibrous tissue (fibrosis) that replace normal skin after injury. A scar results from the biological process of wound repair in the skin and other tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natural part of the healing process.     Wikipedia
My orthopedic surgeon is a petite female but as strong as her male peers in the f…
Read more

Surviving Limbo

Image
If there was ever a place I never wanted to visit its Limbo.  No calm sea or happy dancing there in Limbo, just a boring pause desperate for a breakthrough.  Yet, I found myself there these last few weeks.
I’ve reached the limit for healing my left knee.  I can do no more until I have the right knee replaced.  My surgical knee compensates and I walk lopsided.  Plus it hurts.  My therapist, the standup comic, throws up his hands and says:  “You are in Limb-O!”
I set the date for another surgery.  That’s when the rigmarole began.   I flunked my chest X-ray.  I took it again and got the same result.  I felt like an outcast.
“You are inoperable,” they said.
I visited one doctor and then another.  I completed an echocardiogram. 
I wondered if my primary physician would release me for my very close surgery date.  Fear set in that something was wrong with me yet I felt great.  I didn’t fit the suggested diagnosis.  Why can’t life be smooth?
How to survive Limbo Control freaks hate Limbo.  They map…
Read more