You still make a difference!

I'm only one,

but I am one.

I can't do everything,

but I can do something.

And I will not allow the everything that I can't do

to stop me from doing the something that I can do.

I'm only one,

but I am one.

 

-Anonymous Poem

6 days and counting....!!

      Christmas is coming! I am so excited! My son is finally of the age to understand and enjoy Christmas, Santa, presents, and etc. It is more than that though.....

      This past Sunday at church was our children's program where they got to sing for everyone. Bubby had a line, and I was so excited! The were spelling out Christmas and what each letter stood for. Poor little guy had practiced his line for a week, and then Sunday he got stage fright.
     Then Monday I took my grandmother to see A Christmas Carol at Beef & Boards (a dinner and theater place). You have those moments where you realize that at sometime you forgot what it was truly about... Every year you watch The Muppets Christmas Carol and you know the movie front to back, but it's the listening. Are you listening to Christmas? Watching the play Monday I was practically bawling. How did I forget that the importance of the Christmas Carol?!  It's more than knowing that "Christmas is more than money"; it's realizing that this one man was not only condemning himself but hurting everyone around him and had the ability to save them. It eludes that if Scrooge didn't change his ways not only would he die, but Tiny Tim would die as well. The common thing at Christmas time has always been to remember that's it not about the money and buying presents but being with family and friends.... It's a step past that though. It's knowing that you make a difference to someone, to everyone. You matter and what you do to/for someone else matters even more.
     Monday evening when I got home with my son we watched A Claymation Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town (two of my traditions), and also Rudolph together. My next epiphany was during Santa Claus... At the end of the movie Santa has to pick just one day a year to make his gift run because it was getting to be too much. "They chose, of course, the holiest night of the year. The night of profound love, which was the perfect night for giving....Christmas Eve." There is also a cross hanging on their Christmas tree in that scene. I realized that I have yet to explain to my son the true meaning of Christmas Eve. At his age right now I know it will be simplistic, but it's the importance of knowing that everyone even Santa honors Christ.

This is always my favorite picture at Christmas time!

 

Christmas...

 

 Christmas morning the parents asked their little girl,

"Did you get everything you asked for?!"

The little girl replied,

"No, but it's not my birthday." 

 



God is Love

     A young boy carved a small sailboat from a block of wood. When the boat was

finished he couldn't wait to try it out. Racing to a nearby stream, the boy knelt on

the shore, gently slid the boat into the water and let it go. With a quiet reverence the

boy watched his precious boat gather speed as it floated away. Before he could react,

his boat was swept of reach. His precious boat was gone! The little boy frantically

looked until there was no light, but he could not find his boat. With a saddened heart

the boy headed home.

     Several days later, the boy was walking down the main street of town when he

saw his boat in the toy store window. He couldn't believe it! The boy ran inside to

the owner. "Mister, that's my boat," he cried. The owner, disbelieving said, "young

man, I just bought that boat. If you want it, you'll have to pay for it." Near tears,

the boy exclaimed, "please sir, I worked so hard on that boat, and then I lost it! It

really is mine." The owner shook his head, "nevertheless, I paid good money for

that boat. You will have to buy it if you want it."

     The little boy raced home, grabbed his piggy bank, and ran back to the toy store.

Dumping his piggy bank onto the counter he asked, "is that enough?" The owner

nodded and handed him the boat. The boy cradled the precious boat in his arms

saying, "little boat, you are twice mine! Once because I made you and once because

I paid for you."

     The boy ran home for his piggy bank, he didn't think about what it would cost him! He was willing to give it all to hold his precious boat again. In that essence aren't we all little boats? God created us and then He paid the blood of  his son, Jesus Christ, to get us all back.
     Do you think of your relationship with God that way? Doesn't God remind us of that every day... "You are twice mine!" God loves us. Just as that little boy loved his boat. Twice owned by God.
      God is love. (1 John 4:8) Love is not just a feeling, it is an action. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:16) To know God is to understand love. Some days all you want to know is that you are loved and thought of... I will always remember this story on those days!

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