“And behold you will
conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He
will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will
give Him the throne of His father David.
And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of His Kingdom
there will be no end.” Luke
1:31-35
“So it was, that while
there were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and
wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was
no room for them in the inn.” Luke
2:6-7
“For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son…” John 3:16
“I will praise you, for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made… Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very
well.” Psalm 139:14
Twenty
years ago I sent out a very special Christmas card that had each of these
verses in it…the card also announced the birth of our third son, David Glenn
Crittenden. David was born on December
18, 1992, exactly one week before Christmas Day… he was our very own “Christmas
miracle.” And now, 20 Christmas days later, these verses still ring true in my
heart and still point me to what the entire season is about.
I recently
told a friend that I can’t even begin to think about Christmas presents or
plans until I have figured out what I am doing for David’s birthday… He is
still my Christmas miracle… the flesh and blood, the new life, the son, the
gift from God that I celebrate every Christmas season… “…fearfully and
wonderfully made…”
However,
crowded into the days prior to and following David’s birthday are the days
which we plan out “our Christmas Celebrations”… what are we giving
everyone? Where and when are we going to
various events as well as family celebrations?
As our family has grown to include in-laws and grandchildren, we are no
longer just juggling the time we spend with Cody’s family and my family, we are
also trying to work around the growing commitments our children have with their
own blended families. Time gets
tight…stress can easily take over the joy of the season. It is easy to let all
of this over power the meaning of “…for God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son…”
This year,
Cody and I celebrated Christmas in Temple, as has become our tradition, with
our children… December 23rd is dinner at Pluckers and back to our
house for gifts and games… Dec. 24th is a party with our friends,
Elizabeth and William Hibbard at their home, and Christmas day… well that is
the one day that changes each year with our own children, but remains the same
with Cody and I… we wake up in our own bed and begin the day together… a new
tradition which began six years ago…(meaning for 22 years, Cody and I spent
Christmas eve night at either his parents’ house, or my parents’ house.)
This year
on Christmas day, I got up early and put a turkey and dressing in the oven… I
finished packing, made breakfast sliders and we headed to have breakfast and
exchange gifts with our granddaughter, Aubrey! And then??? We loaded. We loaded
up the turkey and the dressing. We
loaded the drippings and broth for the giblet gravy… we loaded presents (some
we had received and some we were giving to others) we loaded dogs…we loaded
everything we needed for a trip to west Texas… at one point we “tagged” up with
each of our kids and their families… and we all headed out… in a caravan of
three separate vehicles… The “Crittenden Clan” from Temple began a trek to west
Texas on Christmas morning to spend Christmas with the rest of our family. Our
first stop was Lubbock, Grandma and Grandpa’s house…The “Macey” branch of our
clan were the first to arrive…but the rest of us were not far behind, and by
5:30 on Christmas evening we were all enjoying Christmas with Grandma and
Grandpa in Lubbock, TX. The oven was full of leftovers from their Christmas
lunch which we had missed with the rest of the family, and we had added our
turkey and dressing. By 7 p.m. we were
stuffed with our Christmas dinner and all happy to be together celebrating the
birth of our Savior… “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him
in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn.”
We all
loaded back up on Thursday and headed to Muleshoe to spend time celebrating
Christmas with Maimee and Grumpy…and Stephanie, Kyle and the girlie girls-
Reagan, Preslee and Bella. We had camp fires, threw washers and played games,
ate at Leal’s and opened presents…and Reagan read us the “Christmas Story” from
the Bible.
We
celebrated the birth of our Savior, with each other and with our families. We did not celebrate just on December
25. We did not celebrate just by the
giving and receiving of gifts… we celebrated every day from December 23rd
until December 31…in fact, I am not sure we have really stopped celebrating
(even though the giving and receiving of gifts has come to an end, more or
less…) and should we ever really stop celebrating?
The card I
sent out 20 years ago also had these words in it:
“The
Christmas Story”
“Mary, when you held
your baby close, did you see
the radiance in His eyes?
Did you feel the tears of
Gethsemane
when you hushed His cry?
when His soft hands unfurled
like tiny rosebuds,
did you see the nail prints?
When you looked into His face,
did you see God’s Son?
This night of rapture
was the beginning of love,
the first glimpse of glory,
the brightness of hope,
wrapped in prayers.”
My creative 10 year old niece, Preslee, made
signs/posters for my mom to hang up in her house for Christmas. They had a simple, yet clear, message- “It’s
all about JESUS!” So, all over my mother’s house, you could look
and see the words written in bright markers, with glitter and decorations to
remind us what the season is really about Jesus. And I don’t believe it is just about the baby
Jesus who is the subject of the poem above… I believe it is about the man that
baby grew to be, and the life He lived and the debt He willingly paid. I believe
that Preslee hit the nail on the head with her posters. And I believe it is
something that we should celebrate daily and that our lives should reflect this
celebration on a daily basis. Just sayin’…because it is. Really.
All.About.Jesus.AMEN
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