CHRISTMAS REMEMBERING

by Barbara Chadwick

 

Putting up Christmas decorations some years has been a chore
and other years, like this one, it was a sweet remembering.

Our first year in seminary was pretty bleak financially speaking. We got by on $300 a month – a student missionary salary that school year of 1965-66. We would not be able to buy our three children Christmas gifts nor would we be able to get anything for each other.

From the kitchen window of seminary housing I saw a car pull up. I went to the door.

“Merry Christmas!  We have brought gifts from someone who wants to remain anonymous." The couple started bringing in gifts of all sizes. Some were wrapped in towels and sheets.  My eyes filled with tears.

When I remember that Christmas day in 1965 I echo what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:3, I thank my God every time I remember you – whoever you are.

Paul often remembered others and how they touched his life; Romans 1:8 …I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you; Philippians 1:4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy;  Philemon 1:4  I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers; 2 Timothy 1:3  I thank God, whom I serve,…as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

Remembering how God  has reached down and touched our lives through other people and the blessings they brought to us fills our hearts with gratefulness and joy. We can only hope that we have passed it on.

            Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the sky a parchment made
           Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade
          To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.
          Nor could the scroll contain the whole,  though stretched from sky to sky
              (Verse 3 from the hymn, The Love of God by F.M. Lehman 1917)

Our most elegant gift was Jesus Himself. From the manger to the tomb He touched lives with blessing, grace and joy.  We could never write a thank-you note that would equal that elegance.

We are reminded by James in chapter 1 verse 17 that…Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth so that we would be the first fruits of His creatures.

We finished putting up our Christmas decorations Thanksgiving weekend.  The angel on the top of the tree in the living room is the one we bought for our first Christmas 55 years ago. Every ornament brings a memory of a loved one or a place where God has used us in ministry.

What a journey!  Lord Jesus, thank you for the memories, the gifts and the blessings!