Skip to main content

Presents or Presence?





I know what my kids are trying to do.  They’re instructing their children that Christmas is about someone not something.  And it’s working.

The request to us as grandparents this year was “just a few presents to place under the tree for the kids.”  I really tried hard to oblige them.  I really tried.  But then I spotted a “Fancy Nancy” storybook that I wanted to read with our six year old granddaughter!  And the games, kids love games!  Their parents should only know about the stuff I passed up! 

It worked out great and our Christmas visit with the kids makes me smile every time I think of it.  We decorated a birthday cake together and sang to Jesus.  Before Sookie blew out the candle she whispered her wish in my ear “I wish we can make a cake like this every day and all be together.”  Presents followed and as she opened each one carefully, she jumped into our laps and gave us a thank-you hug.  Each one!

I would say the lesson is being learned here.  It's about giving!  Christmas is about the Son of God leaving His heavenly home and coming down to earth as a baby only to grow up and accept Father God’s plan of redemption by dying for us a brutal death so we can be saved, delivered and free! 

Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.  Luke 2:52 (NLT)

What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position "a little lower than the angels"; and because he suffered death for us, he is now "crowned with glory and honor." Yes, by God's grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.  Hebrews 2:9 (NLT)

Merry Christmas!  Jesus is the reason we celebrate!

Comments

  1. SharonDecember 23, 2014 at 7:53 PM

    Yes, the best gifts are all about giving! And the best gift of all is Jesus, who gave everything for us!

    Mary, I wish you and yours a very MERRY CHRISTMAS. May your home be filled with His love, joy, peace, and hope!

    GOD BLESS!

    ReplyDelete
  2. FloydDecember 24, 2014 at 9:16 AM

    It truly is about giving. Thanks for the reminder. Merry Christmas to you and your whole clan. God bless.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Surprise at the Mall

I lost touch with a writer friend.  I missed her and her cheerful blog posts.  We met up in a most unusual way!  I’m still in awe of how it happened. I finished my shopping at the mall and took a short cut to get to the parking lot.  The path led me through the food court.  The smell of Chicken Fajitas stopped me in my tracks.  I planned lunch elsewhere, but now I followed my nose. I chewed my first bite of chicken taco salad when, out of nowhere, a loud redhead moved rapidly past the tables and into the booth with me.  “I know you !”  She shouted.  I pondered if I knew this crazy lady.  Did she mistake me for someone else?  She shouted louder and stuck her finger in my face:  “ You’re Mary; you have a blog called Pile of Smiles and you live in the Verde Valley .”   It took me a second to compose myself.  I stopped chewing my food.  I know I stared too long at her face and then she said:...
48 comments
Read more

Hitched to a Rough Road

Photo Credit:  Peggy James I got his email and wanted to shout:  “Hey, buster, does the phrase “continued behavior pattern” mean anything to you?  But I didn’t. Travis is at it again.  His email revealed a litany of complaints about our neighborhood, our country road, our board officers, bad decisions made that will cost him money , yada-yada-yada . Travis is a Christian brother but you’d never know it. He is a large, loud man who shoots his mouth off as often as he shoots his guns back here in the hills.  He interrupts at our road meetings and, like a typical hothead, he speaks truth but with a tone that makes me feel like I need to duck in case some of his words fly at me and smack me upside the face. I thought we were making progress, but we’re not. It is our rough road that brings us together .  Last year we picked up the neglected pieces of our road association.  We agreed to assemble once again to talk, make decisio...
37 comments
Read more

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 ...
23 comments
Read more