Priceless Gifts

The Christmas of 2017 Brady got everyone in our family a gift , except me. Brady is my grandson. He realized on the afternoon of Christmas Eve that he had forgotten to get me a Christmas present. He asked his dad if he could have his credit card so he could get some gas and go to Target to get me a gift That request was denied . So he asked his mother the same thing. She agreed to let him have her card if he would also get her some Cheese that she needed to make something for our Christmas Eve snacks.

Brady got his gas and went to Target. He got the  Cheese, and a gift for me. When he was ready to pay he couldn't find the credit card. He had enough money to buy  the cheese, but not enough for my gift. He called his dad, and told him what had happened. Later that night Brady did find the credit card, but not before Clay had canceled the card. So I got no Christmas gift from Brady, except that he did tell me that he had given me a good Christmas story I could write about. I guess that is one way of looking at it. He was right, I do have a funny story to share. His gift that year was one of the best.

But there is another side to this story. Earlier in the week Brady had bought his grandmother, Sasha, a Christmas gift. Our grandchildren call Sherri, Sasha. Brady went to a nice lady's shop in Wake Forest where he bought gifts for Sherri and another lady. The Christmas present he picked out for Sherri was a cute little necklace. After Brady had decided on the other gift he was ready to pay. The lady at the register told Brady what he owed, about forty dollars I think. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a large jar full of change which he had been saving for two years. Then he poured out all of those pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters onto the counter. His payment was graciously accepted, but I’ve often wondered what that lady must have thought. 

Brady actually gave me two wonderful gifts on that Christmas. Neither of them were wrapped and placed under the tree. The gifts of 2017 are firmly etched in my mind, and they still bring me some laughs and much joy. I think that a Christmas gift doesn't have to be wrapped in a beautiful package with pretty bows and glitter. We know the greatest Gift ever given was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. This everlasting Gift received by faith, given in love and paid for with a great price brings us joy and peace. The beautiful story of Jesus’ birth is the greatest story ever told because it tells of the great love our Heavenly Father has for us.

This Could Be My Last Christmas

Every Christmas Eve, after my dad died at age 54, my mom, who would turn 106 today if she were still living, would say to me, my brother, our wives and our children, “This may be my last Christmas.” She never got over my dad’s death. She missed him so much, I think, especially at Christmas. We didn’t like when she said that she might not be with us again at Christmas. To hear that just before we were going to unwrap our gifts was certainly not the time to make such a morbid statement. Mon was only 56 years old when she started that nonsense. 

After a few years Mike and I began making fun of her when she would make this annual Christmas statement. “Where are you going?” Which one of us can have your car (and we would argue about that)? Make sure your will is up to date? Be sure to tell daddy we said hello!” We responded with whatever non sympathetic statement came to mind. She would get tickled, we all had a good laugh and then began opening our presents. Mike and I always argued about which one of us got the best present from her. Of course mom would fuse at us telling us to stop, that the gifts were the same. One year she gave each of us a framed picture of herself. Boy did we have fun with that! We knew mom enjoyed our shenanigans. She was a funny lady, and I miss my her.very much. By the way, our mother celebrated 31 more Christmases with us before she died at age 87.

As we age, at least for Sherri and me, time changes  so many things about our family Christmases. This year, only my North Carolina daughter, her husband and Holly, our granddaughter were with us to celebrate Christmas. We had a great time, but I missed being with other members of our family. But rather than bemoaning the fact that Christmas family gatherings are not as they used to be you and I should rejoice in the way Christmas was, is and will always be until Jesus comes again. Even if we are alone we can celebrate the birth of Jesus. He is Emanuel; He is with us. He is alive, and He has saved you and me from our sins. Here is the good part, one day we will celebrate with Jesus in heaven, forever, and ever and forever more! Amen!

Yesterday might have been my last Christmas on earth,  and it might have been your last Christmas. That’s something to think about, especially if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord. He loves you, and He wants to save you.

Where God Lives

Many gifts were given and received during Christmas. The response given by those receiving those gifts was some form of gratitude—a hug, a kiss and of course a bunch of “thank yous”.

It is good to let others know how much we appreciate their kindness toward us. Don’t you love it when someone lets you know that they have been blessed by you . You love being around people like that, don’t you

Who has given you the biggest, most wonderful, and the best gift you have ever been given? Did you say God? I hope you did because that is the right answer. How should we respond when God has given us something? How can we adequately say thank you to God? How can we be sure God hears us when we do say, “Thank you God.” Where is God anyway? You may think this is a dumb question, but the Bible tell us where God lives. We don’t have to look too far to find God. If we lift our voices to God in thanksgiving and praise we can be sure to know his presence. 

Psalm 22:3 says, “God inhabits the praises of his people.” God lives in the praises of those who praise him. If you are praising Him, he lives at your address.  We know God is everywhere. There is no place you and I can go that God is not already there. We honor God when we ask him to help us in various ways. But it really pleases God when we praise him and thank him.  That is where his habitation is. God loves to be with his children. He likes to hear us when we thank him, and when we tell him that we love him. God is very pleased when we worship him as our Lord, our King, our Savior and our Father. 

If we belong to God we should remember to praise him and thank him throughout the day. It will make a big difference in our walk through this life.

Son of a Butcher

 For many years Sherri has cooked Christmas brunch for our family. This year only my daughter, Susan, Clay our son-in-law and Holly, our granddaughter, were at the brunch table. We were enjoying the food and our conversations when, and I’m not sure how, the topic moved to fried chicken. As the conversation continued I mentioned that my mother fried chicken for our family every week, and that it was about the best fried chicken I had ever eaten. Then I mentioned that mom taught Sherri how to fry chicken. Sherri spoke up, “I would buy a whole chicken and John Paul would cut it up…” Holly, our granddaughter interrupted wanting to know what it meant that Pa cut up a chicken.. 

Sherri explained that cutting up a chicken meant that I took a sharp butcher knife and cut the different pieces of the chicken such as the legs, the wings, the breasts, the thighs and the pulley bone (that really confused Holly). Holly wanted to know how I knew how to  cut up a chicken. Sherri said, “Pa was a son of a butcher”…there was a pause and suddenly laughter broke out. It took a while for Sherri’s remark to sink in. Then I said, “Well, I’ve never been called a son of a butcher before, especially by my wife. I don’t think we ever finished the discussion about frying chickens.

My daddy was a butcher. When he began running our country grocery he decided that he needed to learn that trade. Daddy went up to Toledo Ohio where his older brother taught him the art of butchering. Daddy was a very good butcher and he wanted my brother and me to learn the basics of butchering so that we could help in the meat department. So he taught us enough that we could do some of the easier jobs. So I guess Sherri was right, I am a son of a butcher. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? 

Not only were my brother and I the sons of a butcher, we were also the sons of a farmer, the sons of a good man and the sons of a Christian. Our daddy was a child of God, and a son of God the Father. My brother and I followed in the footsteps of our daddy. Both of us have daughters and they can say, “We are daughters of teachers, and daughters of preachers”, but more importantly they are able to say, “We are daughters of the Heavenly Father.” I wish and pray that every child would be able to say some day, “I am a son, a daughter of the Heavenly Father.”

My Father’s World

 "This is My Father's World" is one of my favorite hymns. It was penned by Maltbie Davenport Babcock, a minister from upper New York. He loved nature and would often go for walks in the beautiful countryside. He would tell his wife before going on walks that “he was going out to see the Father’s world.” I’m sure these walks inspired him to write this lovely song. 

Some of my favorite lines Mr. Babcock wrote, ring true of how I feel when I am in the heart of nature all by myself. Even when I was a young boy I enjoyed going to the woods and sitting by our pond at the back of our farm. I think I was happiest in those places. I could relate so well to these lines, “…to my listening ears…I rest in my thoughts of rocks and trees,” I had never seen the ocean so it was our old pond with frogs, turtles and salamanders instead of the sea. The song speaks of “the birds their carols raise”. I loved to listen to the birds sing and still do. I enjoyed watching the squirrels play as well as other wild animals and I was awed by many other treasures that became a wonder to this young boy growing up on a farm. 

The end of the second verse and the third verse speak to all us living now in this terrible frightening world. ”Let me (All of us) ne’er forget though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.” Now that I am an old man I understand what God was teaching me way back then as I spent my time in the lap of nature. I know that God was speaking to me and somehow assuring me that he loved me, and that he would take care of me. That verse says, “In the rustling grass, I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere.” 

God is not nature. He created nature for us to enjoy and also that we would know He is almighty God and that we need not be sad or afraid because, “The Lord is King”

.