Ah, that first Christmas with your offspring. Who can forget those?
Even though their little minds can't comprehend all of the lights and
music and the funny, rotund man in the bright red suit, they can feel
the excitement. How delightful to see the expressions on the faces of
their parents and grandparents as they watch these prodigies of tomorrow
gooing and cooing over the wind up toys, spinning top or soft baby
doll. Each Christmas shared with your children is to be cherished for
too soon they will be in their own homes for Christmas with their own
families.
I well remember the look on her face as she opened the
new stereo. Or the sheer shock of the keys wrapped in a colorful box
with a big red bow. Could these be keys to her very first car? A car
that would have to be driven immediately around the town square though
she was donned only in pajamas and the weather was freezing. I see her
dragging a screaming younger sister by her arm so she could join in the
spin. Off she went to feel the excitement a car of her own could bring.
Too soon the years pass. The excitement of Christmas is still there.
But faces are added to the mix around the Christmas table and the tree.
Excitement builds as we drive through a wintry ice and snow storm to be
there as that first grandchild makes his appearance at the beginning of
the Twelve Days of Christmas. His Angelic face lit up the room making
the lights on the tree dim in comparison. "Ooohs and Ahhhs" were not so
much for the gifts under the tree that Christmas morning but for this
tiny grandchild in his mother's arms.
As each new little person
joins the family, that first Christmas becomes even more special. There
is that first baby doll for precious little girls barely able to sit up
yet their eyes sparkling and their smiles coming at the sight of that
gift. Then, another precious grandson to even out the numbers; a
duplicate of his big brother; his Christmas teddy bear clutched tightly
in his arms. And, then, another child, so young she is unable to even
hold up her head on her first Christmas. Yet with an infectious
countenance and little fat cheeks so tempting to kiss. Ah, the
happiness of those first Christmases.
In the mix, there are
always sad Christmases.
A grandmother passing on Christmas morning; two
wee ones to young to realize what the word divorce and the absence of a
father on Christmas morning means. A Christmas in a small town like this
when the gulf war brings local families anxiety and sadness at the
separation from their loved ones. These are part of Christmas memories
that we might long to forget. Yet, they are the ones that help mold us
into the people we are today.
As we see our tiny ones in our
Christmas memories, we are reminded of another baby, whose birth we
celebrate during this season. He came to earth to bring us a new life in
Him
.
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The
virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)
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