Christmas memories

As a Pastor, I have spent the last 40 years preparing for and attending Christmas Eve services. At first, it was one, at times it was 10, and this year it was 7. They are wonderful but they are also exhausting. But to be with so many people-all together-celebrating the birth of the Christ Child…well, there is nothing I know that matches it. When I finally get home on Christmas Eve, I am totally spent. All my physical, emotional, and spiritual energy has been emptied. In that moment, I feel the greatest gratitude that God has allowed me to Pastor such a wonderful Church for so many years.

As a husband and father and helper, I don’t feel so great. I stumble into the living room on Christmas morning and see all the presents Lee has so lovingly bought and wrapped under the tree. And all the decorations and preparations she has made for the family to celebrate together. Weeks of planning and worry and shopping and work all orchestrated to perfection for this one morning to satisfy every single person. And I feel more than a little guilty that I was of no help. I was getting ready for Christmas Eve services.

Two things stand out in my memory after all these years: One, all of us dressed so nice, together with our individual families, celebrating Christmas Eve together, smiling for the most part…our families are not nearly as ‘put together’ as we appear. Someone is mad at someone…there are some wounds that haven’t fully healed, somebody has some hurt feelings…and for a few brief minutes we put all that aside to focus on what Christmas is really about.

The other memory I have is of all the Christmas mornings I can remember in my own family. Most of them are happy memories of days gone by... surprise! go-carts, BB guns, the latest fashion in teenage girl's clothes...But at least 8-10 of them are painful memories when a family member refused to come for Christmas, or the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, or still worse, a family member was terminally ill and this would be their last Christmas, or we were still mourning the death of a family member who was absent for that Christmas.

We used to have a tradition of meeting at my Mom and Dad’s house where we’d start with a huge breakfast before opening presents. I used to ‘assist’ my Dad in frying eggs, special order for each person-adult and child. Then Dad would slowly sit down near the tree and pass all the presents out. Slowly Dad couldn’t do it anymore... and then he was absent for the first time at Christmas.

Lee has always made Christmas special since the party moved to our home. And she’s terrific.

Whether you’re incredibly excited today, or melancholic for a better year…be of Good Cheer. A baby was born that rocked our world. If you’re looking, you’ll find Him. He IS the hope!