Another Christmas Story and a Prayer

Here we are at Christmas time, and the story of the Christ child's birth and this terrible massacre of such very young children and adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

We celebrate Jesus' birth, but we rarely recall the terrible massacre afterward.

(Matthew 2:11-18, NIV)

¹¹ On coming to the house, they (the Magi) saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.“Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”

Dear Jesus, 

We come before you weeping for these precious children and teachers who are no more. We weep with their fathers, mothers, siblings, grandparents, friends, and loved ones. You who are our Comforter in sorrow, their hearts are faint within them, and so are ours. These families cry out in their grief, mourning their loved ones who were murdered. 

That’s why they are sobbing. Tears are flowing from their eyes. Not one of us is near enough to comfort these who have lost their loved ones. No human can heal these families. Their children are gone. Their enemies were much too strong for them. Jesus, just as you asked the Father, I too  ask that you will give these families and friends the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with them each moment, each hour, each day, and forevermore. So be it Lord, Amen. 

(Jeremiah 8:18, NIV; Lamentations 1:16, NIRV; (John 14:16, AMP all paraphrased)

Joseph Lost His Head 10 Days Before Christmas

Friday, I went to school and helped Sadie build a Polar Express train out of candy. I think she (we) ate as much as we used. The cafeteria was filled with parents helping their first and second graders make the train. That is what I love about the school and that is the great teachers and parent involvement and the special events. 

Sadie built her own train and winter scene, but the dad next to us made his daughter's train and ate candy while she watched. He was so delighted and oblivious that his daughter should be making the train I couldn't help but chuckle. 

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Thanks to my royalty check, I bought Sadie a new velveteen purple, her favorite color, dress with sparkly ruffles at Walmart for her Sunday duet at church and singing with the children's choir for the congregation. I made a lavender ribbon rose and sewed it onto the bow at the hipline and made her a matching ribbon barrette. 

Friday was also the last day of school, and our grand girls, Sierra, 10; Sadie, 8; and Delaney, 7, were revved up and ready to rocket  off to Christmas. I had the girls draw names for a gift exchange, and then I took them to the dollar store to pick out five things. They haggled and changed their minds about what to buy. Delaney picked out pretty nail polish for Sadie, who promptly told her she didn't want polish. Delaney was crushed, and I lectured Sadie about her need to be kind and appreciate what Delaney had picked out. 

I had just heard a radio DJ talking about Christmas and re-gifting who said that in a study it was discovered it was not the "thought" that counted but rather the "gift" counted the most, so I suggested to Delaney that she pick something else out for Sadie.  

At home, the girls spread a flurry of paper across the floor. Arguments arose over scotch tape and scissor usage. After all the gifts were wrapped and snug in their Christmas stockings, the grand girls began begging to open just one present. Wide-eyed and beggar mouthed, they plagued me with their pleas. 

Waiting to open gifts is so hard. I remember that I felt the same way as a child, and it was not easy, but I didn't give in to the girls pleas and put the gifts out of sight. 

As they were flailing and jumping around throwing a ball it hit Joseph, an irreplaceable ceramic figurine, my mother had made as part of a nativity set for me years ago. His head broke off; it was a clean break. Sadie, her face hung low, as she held out the two pieces of Joseph in her hands. 

I took the pieces and laid them on my desk and pulled her up onto my lap and told her I wasn't mad at her. She was relieved and so was I, because I knew she felt bad enough and did not need to be in any more trouble than she already had been that day. 

Joseph, the figurine, was not important I was reminded that very afternoon when I heard about the massacre of 20 children in Connecticut. 

Our children are more precious than irreplacable things because they cannot be replaced. 

"How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings" (Psalm 36:7, ESV).

12 Days Before Christmas

It's  Thursday, and it is 12 days before Christmas. 

$8.71 in the bank. About $2 in change. 

Out of food basics: cereal, eggs, fruit, milk, and more. 

Barely a 1/4 of a tank of gas in the car. 

I promised our granddaughter Sadie a pretty Christmas dress for Sunday—3 days away. Sadie is singing  a two-line duet for the Christmas program with the children's choir. 

I need to have my hair cut and get a permanent, so I can have a professional picture taken for promoting my soon to be released book, A Woman's Heart for God: Drawing Closer to the Lover of Your Soul. 

I check to see how much both will cost: $115.00.

Our property  taxes are 3 days overdue, $1,432.53 plus penalties. 

Our kitchen sink needs to be repaired. How much will that cost?

Six days until we get our Social Security check. 

I can't imagine where the money will come from, so I panic and pray earnestly. Where will we possibly get the money to buy Sadie a dress and get the basics in food to hold us over, let alone have my hair done, or pay the property taxes? Our Social Security checks won't begin to cover it all. 

I am expecting an advance for my new book, but it shouldn't come until January. 

Have you ever faced such a financial dilemma? You were greatly worried? 

"O ye of little faith." This phrase from Matthew kept playing through my mind. I'd forgotten what that chapter was about, so I looked up the passage, Matthew 6:25-34, in The New Living Translation. Here is the passage, exactly what I needed to hear, and be reminded of:

 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?"

²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?"

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. ³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."

Ron had picked up the mail that afternoon, but he had taken a long nap. At dinner time, he comes out holding an envelope. It was my royalty check!

It would cover all of our expenses! Talk about a happy dance in my heart. We both rejoiced, happy but near tears. 

Christmas is coming! Christ was born. It is Him we celebrate.