e-mail 11/26/6 (1)

Even though I have so much to be thankful for, I have not written anything in several days. I thought that perhaps many e-mail boxes would be filled to capacity with well wishes from friends and that is always a most welcome thing.

Now we enter the time when our focus should be on the "coming of our Savior", His birth. It is easy at this time of the year to get our attention on that that is more commercial. Instead we should be asking ourselves, what would Jesus want me to do to celebrate His birth?

Jesus said, "I am the Light of the World". I believe that Jesus would want us to be a light to those around us, reflecting His light. A light is something that takes away the darkness so people can see their way. We have many ways of showing "the Light." We can do this by sharing our reason for celebrating this time of the year. We can do this also by decorating our homes outside to show our neighbors what Christmas means to us. Just riding through a neighborhood and seeing a Nativity scene and lots of lights make a statement to the lost.

I received a precious article recently that said that if the town square will not allow a nativity scene that we should not fret, that if every Christian had one set up in their yard, it would be a tremendous statement of our faith. Bob and I took that to heart this year and it may not be fancy but it does speak of what Christmas is all about to us. What an easy way to witness! Much better than a blow-up Santa or one of those round balls filled with air and fake snow.

Sometimes we think we have to memorize so much Scripture and have the knowledge of a preacher but witnessing is as simple as breathing-if you know Jesus. All we need to do is tell what we know, what Jesus did for us and let the Holy Spirit do His part of convicting hearts.

I have my Christmas tree up so there are as many days as possible for the lights to shine outside through the windows. Our tree is very special every year and often has been known to bring tears as the decorations are put up. Our tree tells the story of our life together and it is used to tell the story of Jesus. Every ornament on our tree has some special meaning, even the little snowmen. (The give me reason to be thankful that I live in an area where my little snowmen do not get cold and they do not melt.) There is a host of angels on the tree and I really don't know how many are in a "host" but there are a lot...all announcing a precious birth. The tree itself is artificial but God created the trees. As stewards of this world, I don't like cutting down trees unnecessarily and what we save on an artificial one goes a long way towards a Christmas Offering at church. There is nothing wrong with having a Christmas tree when you remember God is Creator of all things.

There is one ornament on our tree from the very first year of our marriage when we did not bring home $50. a week with both of us working 40 hour weeks and our rent was $50.00 a month. With a little bit of furniture payment, car payment and utilities, there was little left but we had each other and a small tree with some small plastic bells. We have one of those bells left from 44 years, not very pretty but oh so precious. There are shiny balls of all colors to remind us of how careful God made everything beautiful. The red balls remind us of His shed blood of Calvary because of love. The blue reminds us of the heavens, the green of the earth. The gold reminds us of a gift for the King of Kings, the silver reminds us of stars and moon and God's provisions.

We have an ornament from a missionary friend to the Philippines on our tree to remind us of those who have gone to foreign places in our place to share the Good News. We have put an ornament on our tree for each of our Grandchildren since they have been born and when they get their own tree, the ornaments will be our gift to them, just like we gave Debbie hers when she had her first tree.

We will be sharing more about ways to enjoy the real reason for the Season of Christmas. Christmas is about sharing, not receiving. As you get into the true spirit of Christmas, remember that the reason for the season is that we might use more opportunities to...

Share God's Love,

Peggy

James 1:27 "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."