Christmas Morning!

 

"Merry Christmas folks! May your time with your family today be a rich blessing. And happy birthday, Dear Jesus! Your gift to us, is the best gift of all!" 

It is a blessing to think of Christmas mornings, long, long ago. I still remember the Christmas magic, of coming down the stairs in the house I grew up in, and seeing the "Santa" presents under the tree. I opened my "big" present, which my folks gave to me the night before, on Christmas Eve. In the picture above, it was an Army truck, loaded with all kinds of plastic Army men. For a kid like me, growing up in the 1950's, getting a swell Army truck, could not have been better!

As much as I wanted just to sit under the tree and play with my presents, it was Christmas morning - which meant church. My mother would insist we all looked our Christmas best, packed up the car, and attend a very packed church service. Then it was over to my grandparents, for yet one or two more presents, and a fine Christmas meal. Those were the days. Wonder and wonderful, always exciting. 

As I grew into a teenager, Christmas mornings started to change. They were still wonderful, but different. "Toys" became replaced with clothes and money. Still went to church on Christmas morning, but the trip to the grandparents stopped. As they aged, my dad would drive over to pick them up, and bring them to my parents house for Christmas dinner. We would have a couple presents for them, and no matter what they were, my grandparents were delighted to get them.

Then came the Navy, then marriage, and then kids of my own. Now it was my wife's and my job to make Christmas as special as we could for our young family. Every year, we tried to "shake it up" a bit, just to keep it new. Christ was always the center of our holiday, just as Christ was the center of our Christmas holidays as we were growing up. As most adults know, those years just seem to wiz on by. Before you know it, your kids are grown and out of the house.

Now we are the grandparents, and our job is to help our daughter and son-in-law make Christmas as special as can be for the grandies. It warms my heart when both my grandson and granddaughter remind me that Christmas is "Jesus birthday". In other words - they get it. 

Soon we will be heading over to my oldest daughter's house, with presents in tow. It will be Christmas, with all the wonder and wonderfulness happening anew. My gift? The same as it was when my kids were growing up. Just to watch and enjoy. Christmas magic? Happens every year, generation to generation. 

Merry Christmas folks! May your time with your family today be a rich blessing. And happy birthday, Dear Jesus! Your gift to us, is the best gift of all!