How to Have a Merry Christmas

This morning was fun watching the children open their gifts. We had some challenges getting Justus upstairs. He wanted to stay downstairs and guard the presents. It has been great having Abby home. It would not be the same without her. Unfortunately there is someone missing this year. This is the first Christmas since my mother passed away last April. To make matters worse, in two days it would have been her 77th birthday. For forty years I saw her at some point during Christmas and this is the first year that I can't. I can still see her in my mind's eye in her slippers and housecoat taking every picture she could of the kids with her disposable camera (Justus still identifies disposable cameras with grandma). I won't lie and say it is easy. It has been wearing on me for weeks. What gets me through is the real meaning of Christmas. Christmas is not just about trees, turkey and presents. Christmas is not even just about a nativity scene and the image of innocence that is seen in a baby lying in a manger. The message of Christmas is that God broke through into our world in the person of his Son Jesus Christ and that because of him we can have hope in this life and in the next. I still miss my mother and father and wish that they could be here with us to enjoy the smiles of the children. But in Christ I can trust that they are in the presence of God and that God will give me the strength that I need until one day I see them again. That is how I have a merry Christmas.