Skip to main content

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
  3. 37 years - that's terrific! Merry Christmas and God bless.

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

    ReplyDelete
  5. 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
  6. I love this picture of you and dad. Thank you for showing my sister and I what love is all about.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 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

A Memorial Day Reflection

  Memorial Day is always noteworthy for me and my girls.  Next Thursday marks the third year of missing their father, my husband. So many thoughts  run through my mind.  The journey of loss takes on various emotions.  The strongest feeling, at first, was emptiness.  In a split second, I would forget he departed forever.  I imagined things I needed to talk to him about when he got back home.  My mind is realistic now.  He's not coming back.  There will be no more times of sitting on the porch swing together on the front deck staring at the moon and the stars.  He would tell me all he knew about the majestic night sky. I have so much I wish I could tell him, like the excitement of seeing our oldest grandchild make a decision to follow Jesus and get baptized on Mother's Day!  And our little Amy, 11 years old, I wish he could have seen her on stage receiving her induction to the National Honor Society. Our daughters have their own ...

It's Not Always About the Tomatoes

I like to travel with buddies and rename them.  I vacationed in Costa Rica with Lupe who loves margaritas   and gets a little loopy.   I don’t drink but I’m a fun gal.  Just ask my co-worker, Frank.  I nicknamed him Jellyfish.  I packed my underwater camera.  Jellyfish can hold his breath really long.  He modeled for my underwater photo shoot in the colossal pool at the resort our company chose for us. I am fascinated with rain forests so my favorite thing to do in Costa Rica is to take walks in them.  I signed up for the tour of an organic cacao working farm.  Lupe chose it too.  A group of us piled into tractors to view crops of watermelon, mango, rice and cattle while we chewed on natural sugar cane, their largest product.  We observed monkeys, Toucans, and sloths. The best part of the tour for me taught about climate change and harvest time as we walked single file among papaya trees, cacao trees, as we...

A Christmas Card for You

Merry Christmas, friends!  I cherish every one of you.  Your friendship means so much to me and I know I am a blessed woman to be connected with so many wonderful men and women who inspire me throughout the year.  I look forward to the coming year with you   I wish for you that God will bless you, your family, your relationships, your work, and your gift of writing and lead you powerfully in the New Year.   This Scripture turned up in my reading this morning and I claim it for us in 2017.  As we draw close to Jesus today and in the coming year, may we see Him in one another! He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’  John 7:38