First, I hope all had a wonderful Christmas, and are looking ahead to a great 2010, Happy New Year!
This is the first day back to work for my husband, who took a vacation week off. We spent it at home, going out on a few day trips, eating out a lot, resting, and enjoying the holidays and a couple of family birthdays.
This year for the first time in a few years, I mailed Christmas Cards, including a Christmas letter that I do each year. As I do the cards, I read all the letters from past years, which brings back many fond memories…have always wished that I’d taken up journaling, but this is the next best thing.
This morning I sat down with several cards that were still sitting under the tree and hadn’t been added to the pile we’ve received by mail over the past weeks, and started reading each one. Some were to my husband, I don’t always take the opportunity to read his cards from our children, feeling at times like it’s something between the children and him, but today I did…and have to say I found myself in tears reading the wonderful things they wrote to and about him…and then reading what they wrote in my own cards. It made me appreciate my husband more, looking at him through my children’s eyes…and myself more, as I often go through the “if only” kind of thinking…if only we had done this, my son would have a great job right now, if only we had done….and the list can go on. But reading cards like the one my son wrote reminds me that we have given him the best thing he will need as he faces lifes challenges, a deep understanding of what the true meaning of CHRISTmas is all about, and the impact that can have on his life.
Then I went and gathered all of the cards received over the weeks, and put them in a basket where they stay throughout the year…all other cards received that year are added to the basket. As I was doing this, I realized I was adding to last year’s cards as well, it seems like it wasn’t all that long ago that we received last year’s Christmas cards.
When my husband and I were dating, and in our early years of marriage, we would go into New York City each year to hear a performance of Handels Messiah, it was performed every night for a week, if I remember correctly, and one night was a sing-along. We never went to a sing-along, but I would like too…hmmm…maybe it’s not to late.
In recent years we have been going to hear a beautiful performance of the Messiah done by the Cathedral Choir at a church 1/2 hour away from us…the choir is made up of people like you and me who have a basic ability to sing, professional singers for the solo parts, a chamber orchestra, and organist. This year’s performance was exceptional.
I love the Messiah, the music as well as the Man Himself. I always say it is what I want to be hearing as I pass from this life to heaven. Here is a nice series of video’s explaining the meaning of the Messiah and playing well-known pieces from the Messiah using beautiful pictures and scenes.
A man is explaining it in human terms, and some of the things he shares do not take into consideration the complete context of the Bible, I’d suggest you enjoy it, but also verify that what you are hearing is true in the Bible…for example (you’ll know why I’m explaining this after you listen), Jesus did not earn the position of sitting at the right hand of God when he died for the sins of mankind, He was God come down to dwell among man…fully God, fully man…a mystery hard for our human minds to understand. See John 1:1, 2 - “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made.” and verse 10 “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him…” All of the gospel accounts of Jesus are good, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Also, Jesus death was not a universal death for all of mankind as these videos seem to indicate, it was conditional, we know this because John 3:16-17 tells us ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Romans 3:23 tells us that “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”….what greater gift can one receive at Christmas than the gift of salvation and eternal life by repenting of our past sins and believing in what Jesus did on the cross for us…this is the reason Christ was born, so that those who believe in what He did for them may have a loving relationship with God, free from guilt and condemnation, because of the blood of Jesus, and why “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”.
A couple of nights ago they were playing “The Sound of Music” on television, so I started rummaging through some old VHS tapes looking for our old copy of the movie so we could watch it commercial free…haven’t purchased a DVD of it yet.
While looking through the pile, I came across our copy of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” which, of course, brought back a flood of memories for both my husband and myself. For me, it was simply the fact that I enjoyed watching it when I was young, and we enjoyed watching it together with our children when they were young. For my husband, it is the stories his mother would tell about knowing the family of the person on which the character, Lucy, was based.
We talked about the movie when we were gathered with family for dinner this Christmas, and my brother-in-law asked “Did you ever notice that Linus puts down his security blanket when he says ‘fear not’ when he explains to Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas?” He’s right!
I am late posting Christmas wishes this year, but take a look at this little clip I found on YouTube of Linus sharing what Christmas is all about with Charlie Brown, and may I wish you the joy of the real meaning of Christmas not just one day of the year, but every day of the year!
Father’s Day has come and gone, but my thoughts about Dad haven’t. I have had him on my mind a lot in the days proceeding Father’s Day and since. The picture is one of my daddy holding me when I was a baby, I had the honor of making him a “daddy” for the first time.
Before Dad became disabled due to strokes, Father’s Day was usually celebrated here at my home on our deck overlooking the lake. The last Father’s Day that stands out most clearly in my mind was when Dad was well, and my Grandfather was still alive and visiting my parents from Massachusetts. It was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for barbecuing on the deck. The whole family was there, including my sister with her then boyfriend. He took advantage of the day to borrow our rowboat, take my sister out on the lake, and propose to her.
This year we took a ride to the cemetery to visit Dad’s grave and thank the Lord that he is now in heaven with Him. I talked more about that on my New Jersey Baby Boomer blog.
During my childhood “Good Friday” was good because we would be dying eggs, and in a day or two I was going to be hunting for Easter Eggs. I knew it was also a day that we took special time to remember Jesus dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, but as a child, the fun part of it seemed more important. The depth of meaning of what Jesus did came later.
When we were children, there was a point where my parents decided that we would do our Easter Egg hunting on Saturday morning rather than Sunday morning, so that we could have fun on Saturday, then focus on the joyful significance of Easter on Sunday. My husband and I carried that tradition on with our own children. I remember going to sunrise services some Easter mornings, not every year, but several years. I remember wearing dressy cloths on Easter; a frilly dress, a nice Easter bonnet, white gloves, and white patent leather shoes. From Easter on the bright colorful spring cloths were what you were supposed to wear, no more dark colors of winter.
Being raised by a father that was an intellectual, I approached new things with some skepticism and researched almost everything that I was told about anything, including the reality of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on a cross for my/our sins. Being raised by a mother who accepted things easily by faith, I learned that there is a point where you have to put aside skepticism and by faith, believe in what is written in the Bible about what Jesus did for us on the cross. Then when I was old enough to think for myself, some very real spiritual things happened within me, it is hard to explain, I just knew that I knew that it was all true and real, and that God and I had a close relationship because of what Jesus had done on that cross…”The Old Rugged Cross”, do you remember that song? I’m going to try and write the words from memory, there may be a mistake or two, but here goes:
On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame,
and I love that old cross, where the dearest and best,
for a world of lost sinners was slain,
So I’ll cherish that old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down,
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it one day for a crown.
How did I do? These are words with great meaning.
Since Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” movie was produced, I try to watch it on Good Friday, I can’t bear watching the beatings, and have to turn away, but it impresses on me the reality of what was done.
But Easter Morning is a celebration, a celebration of the fact that Jesus conquered death, rose again, and because He did so, those who believe that He is who He said He is, and that He did what He said He did, can look forward to living forever with him and all those who have believed before. It can’t get any better than that.
Wishes for a wonderful weekend from our home to yours.
This is a simple memory that just popped into my mind as I was digging through my cleaning products getting ready to clean the bathroom and came upon a bottle of silver cleaner.
When I was a child, each year at Christmas we used the good silverware, and each year, it needed to be polished. There was also the silver salt and pepper shaker. I remember my grandmother being present for this, as my grandparents came from a suburb of Boston to spend Christmas with us each year.
We would sit around the table, and rub the pink silver cleaner into the silverware and other silver items that needed cleaning for the meal, that was my part of the job. Then I suppose it was rinsed, and then we took a clean, dry cloth and rubbed each piece into a shiny luster.
It’s funny how the simplest of things can bring such memories. We don’t use real silver in our home, and I imagine it is a thing of the past for many, but maybe I’m wrong? Do you use silver and fine china for your special meals?
Yes, I’m going to be 56 next month…wow, 56, that’s amazing! Where did that time go.
We spent the day at Mom’s, she is a gentle, sweet, precious, frail woman (she would hate me to say that last part about her) who has given so much in her almost 80 years of life, it was a privilege to be able to give back by going over early and helping set everything up and then to help clear up. She likes to have it at her home each year, and makes a delicious turkey and pies, and we make and do all the rest. I admit I was tired by the end of the day, but it’s not about me right now, it’s about family and Mom.
The best laughs of the day were those spent at our home earlier when my daughter and her husband stopped by to visit before we all got into the car and went over to my Mom’s. I love my 2 children, and it was good to be with both today when we could share time together.
Thanksgivings have ALWAYS been at my parents, and now my Mom’s except for one year when we were out in Colorado with my husband’s family, and a few years when my Mom and Dad would go up to Mass. to be with and help my grandparents on my mother’s side.
So from generation to generation we go, each generation giving thanks for family, all that the Lord has done for us, and how blessed we are to be able to sit down at a table full of bounty.
