Do you remember your first Christmas gift as a child? Well, it may not have been your first gift but it’s the one you first remember! I remember mine. I was about four years old and I received a plastic lunch box. I even remember the colors, yellow and green. What made it so special was that now I had a lunch box just like my older brothers and sister who took theirs to school. We have come a long way from plastic lunch boxes to electronic toys.
Do you remember the little bubble lights in the shape of candles that one use to see on decorated trees? Then on the very top of the tree there was the angel that you plugged in? I think the angel may still be around but I don’t see very many bubble lights.
Jill and I still hang our stockings on Christmas Eve and we look forward to the next morning. The stocking I hang now looks pretty flashy in red with my name on it. Hung stockings today are a far cry to the ones many of us remember; a long grey work sock in which Santa would always put an orange in the toe.
The value of gifts has certainly changed over the years. Of course one earned a lot less in years past but I always thought it was fun making a dollar go four ways! A dollar would buy a package of razor blades for dad, a small comb for mom, bobby pins for my sister and maybe a small jackknife for my brother.
When our girls were small, of course like all others they wanted to get up while it was still dark and open their presents. It was a real struggle to convince them to remain in bed until the sun came up. One year I came up with the perfect solution! I told them on Christmas Eve that “daddy is going to set an alarm clock in your room and as soon as it goes off you can get up.” They thought that was great. I didn’t tell them that it was set to go off at 8:00am not 6:00am! It only worked for one year.
Do you remember reading the Christmas story from the Bible (as a family) before opening your gifts? What about the Sunday School Christmas Concerts with their plays, recitations, carols, and of course a visit from Santa.
A lot of things have changed over the years and this is to be expected, but one thing that has not changed is the reason for the season. We gather as family, friends and church community to celebrate the coming of the promised Messiah in the form of the Babe of Bethlehem.
May God bless you with happy memories of the past, may you retain some of your favorite traditions in the present, and may the Lord who greeted the shepherds long ago greet you with the same Good News today: “Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!
