December 19th: by Rev. Lynn Vahle

It started because I couldn’t face Thanksgiving and Christmas with the same set of people. So one year we simply announced to the family that we would be out of town for Thanksgiving. We rented a cabin at the Y-camp in Granby and took the boys and headed for the hills. Soon it became a tradition that we would use the four days of the Thanksgiving weekend to “get away”.

We always went to the mountains. We always rented a cabin or a condo with a fireplace, though it didn’t always have a TV. In the first years the boys always spent much of each day sledding, but before long they were off to the ski slopes. Jerry and I spent the day reading or napping by the fire, sometimes taking a walk, or poking through antique stores in town. I usually wrote our Christmas letter. Meals were simple - sloppy joes instead of a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings. And in the evening we played games, talked, and relaxed with one another. There was a lot of laughter and at least for me a lot of time for reflection.

It was a way to get away from “the maddening crowd” for a while, to escape all the hype and tension of the coming Christmas season, and to prepare myself for the month of December. And it worked. I could return refreshed and ready to plunge into all the decorating, cooking, gifting, and partying that are part of Christmas.

For a long time I thought it was getting away, getting into a new environment and a new routine that was refreshing. At other times I felt it was the lack of responsibility and the permission to read all day if I wanted to that was freeing. Some years I just needed the time to rest before all the activity of the holiday season began. But I now realize there was more going on than I realized. It truly was my preparation for Christmas.

It was an opportunity to spend four uninterrupted days and nights with the four men I love the most. All of our various schedules took a back seat to being together. It helped us define in new ways what it was to be a family. For four days we shut the world out and we rediscovered each other. And we had fun doing it. At the heart of the Christmas story is a family that traveled to a new place and drew on each other’s strength. A family that brought love into a crazy and preoccupied world.

Those Thanksgiving weekends provided us with many memories. And I believe they were important to all of us because that is still what we do to prepare for Christmas. Now we don’t rent a cabin- we gather in a mountain home that belongs to one of our sons. And there is no longer five of us but fourteen! We talk, we play games, we work on a puzzle, we read and nap, the kids go sledding, we watch a movie or a video, and we relax and laugh together. We remind ourselves what it means to be family and we go back to our busy lives ready to celebrate the birth of God’s son and our inclusion in God’s family.

Rev. Lynn Vahle

December 18th- by: Nancy Henry

Am I ready for Christmas?

How do you get ready when you cannot do all of the things you are used to doing, want to do, and enjoyed doing that you thought made Christmas?

Going to the mountains to cut down a tree, making a swag or two out of the evergreen, making sure that the older kids made presents for the grandparents, etc. When you have seven children there are lots of school programs to enjoy and attend, shopping was minor. I usually had some help with that. The older kids were treated to the lights and windows on 16th Street in Denver. In later years this mother was treated to dinner at the Brown Palace after a day of shopping a number of times. There were always the cards that had to have a note or letter, and probably the thing I miss and enjoyed the most came out of my kitchen—coffee cakes, cookies, candy and many times dinner.

So how do I get ready for Christmas?
First of all I won’t cry because I cannot do all of these things. Then I sit down to count my blessings. Number 1, LaMar did not grow up celebrating anything, but I had 64 years of teaching him all of these goodies. Number 2, I have seven children who enjoy one another, while they all are not healthy, they are healing and working, and looking after me. Number 3, My sister-in-law is healing and will be home by Christmas. This list could go on and on, but Number 4, and maybe this should be Number 1, I sit at my quiet time and think of all of the things we could have done spiritually and didn’t. It was left up to the church and Sunday School which we attended regularly. My blessing is that we all know that it is God who has watched over us and taken care of us and no one knows the love of God like I do. And I have time for prayer and my Bible.

Yes, I am ready for Christmas.
Nancy Henry

December 17th- by: Betty Stephenson

R-U-READY for Christmas ?

When does one begin to get ready for Christmas? Just what are we getting ready for? Is it planning for parties, entertain co-workers, friends, and family members, a trip or participating in Christmas activities at school or church? Church activities can be as varied as you want, decorations for the sanctuary, music, caroling to the elderly and/or shut-ins or caring friends, making goodies for church activities, supporting the giving tree, ushering and what-ever else needs to be done.

As a child getting ready for Christmas was quite different compared to today with all the glitter, songs, TV, commercials, flyers encouraging you to buy this and that to make your Christmas the best ever.

I’m ready when I have met the challenge of finding a suitable Christmas tree ornament to give to my 88 family members and a few friends. Christmas is the only time of year and occasion when we share gifts unless it is a wedding in the family.

Am I Ready for Christmas in today’s world? I try to keep it simple, as I knew Christmas as a child. Even though each year we prepare for the same event, it seems to take on new meanings as we share in activities with new friends and family members. The highlight of the Christmas season for me is being involved in church activities with friends and my church families. May the real meaning and spirit of Christmas be with each of you this year in whatever manner is fitting for you, your family and friends.

Betty Stephenson, Christmas 2008

December 16th - by: Sheryl Johnson

R*U*RDY?

With all the things the Holidays bring, it seems like you will never get it all done.
The best way to start is to prioritize the “TO DO LIST”. There are the decorations to get up, the baking to be done, the presents to buy and get wrapped, and on. We get so wrapped up in all the things “TO DO” that we sometimes forget the true meaning of the Holidays.

We try to accomplish all of the Holiday things along with our regular activities. Sometimes you just wonder how you are going to have time to get it all accomplished. But in the end, it always seems to come together. The closer we get to Christmas the more we get in the spirit and the adrenalin gets us going to accomplish what we have to get done to get us ready for the Holidays.

May your Holidays be blessed, you lives enriched and the Spirit of Christmas be with you each and every day!

J-TRFTS - Jesus, the Reason for the Season!

Sheryl Johnson

December 15th- by: Mark Weinstein

Are You Ready?

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory? For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” (Rev 19:7)

Are you ready? No doubt this is a question that Christians have been asking themselves and others for centuries. Now I know that the scope of this question as it pertains to our church’s advent season was certainly a bit smaller than that which I have already alluded to, but I have a difficult time contemplating any given question without looking beyond the here and now. My personality dictates that I must overanalyze almost all ponderings (just ask my wife). So in saying that, I wish to take that question just a little beyond the obvious.

Each year people the world over ready themselves for the coming Christmas season. The myriad of tasks that are commonplace in preparation include: gift lists are made, financial considerations are taken into account, trees trimmed, cookies baked, houses decorated, invitations and cards mailed, family pictures taken, and of course church services and programs are thought out and rehearsed. While these are all wonderful and necessary (hmm) activities, we must think beyond Christ’s birthday and begin to think of Christmas as the “so much more” that it deserves. Let me explain.

Christmas is the day chosen by society on which we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I say “chosen” because that is just what it is. Along about the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. Romans Catholics, in an effort to convert pagans of the time to Christianity, introduced (Christ’s birthday was never honored before this) a holiday to fall concurrently with an already established week of pagan celebration (biblically we know that December 25 is not the actual day of birth of Christ, but that is entirely a different subject). Given this, Christmas was born and has grown to what it is today. But what does Christmas really signify?

I propose this thought: What if we come to celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ (His 1st coming) in conjunction with His impending 2nd coming? Think about it. Each year we will set aside the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Shepherd, and even more, as a time to contemplate and prepare for His glorious return. No longer do we simply celebrate the life that Christ lived, but we look forward to the life we will live with Christ when he returns to bring all believers to His kingdom. Given those statements, we see that this holiday becomes so much richer in rewards, expectations, and responsibilities.

What rewards are we to expect? Right from the lips of Christ we are told “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). No more are we to worry about what is to come. For life, a new life will continue forever. How joyous that occasion will be when the Lamb comes to reclaim His own and with Him brings the promise of life everlasting. But that is not all. We are also promised that this infinite life will be spent in the unrelenting presence of God Almighty Himself. All things old will be made new and clean. Sin will forever be gone from the world. An eternity of worshipping the Lord our God without pain, tears, death, and sorrow, will ensue (Rev 21:3-5). No gift on earth can equal that which the great I Am will impart upon us as we ascend into His bosom.

I mentioned expectations though; so what of them? As with any great reward there is work to be done before the reaping can begin. Our Lord speaks many times of the work we are to do while in this carnal world, yet constantly He reminds us of the rewards that lie in wait as a result. God, through the words of Isaiah says “…my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands” (65:22). Let us now and hence forth do God’s work. We know our tasks; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt 22:37), “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:39), and finally “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” (Acts 2:38). These are all things that we have committed our life as Christians to and so the work is easy. Each day brings us a promise for tomorrow and with it a knowledge that we must live as Christ would live. To be loved one must love, and to love one must give of themselves. These simple words work in our lives to ensure our entry into a time of never-ending bliss, and an assurance of salvation through the grace of God.

Making these transitions to a God centered Christmas isn’t easy though. Society puts so much pressure on us to be consumer minded. Stimulate the economy, they tell us. Christmas is slowly becoming the holiday season and no more. Many know nothing of the true nature of the promises that are spoken to during this time of year. But we do. The glory that awaits is an occasion for us to celebrate each and every day. Once a year though, we are lucky enough to share with the world the atoning quality of the 1st coming of our Lord, and eagerly anticipate life eternal through His return. All that we do points towards our inevitable future in an unimaginable place. “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light” (Rev 21:21).

“And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev 22:21)
Are you ready? I am!

Blessed be those in Christ,

Mark A. Weinstein