And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 

"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." 

Luke 2:8-11, KJV

 

There is a wonder about this time of year that is hard to put into words. Of course, the biggest part of this wonder is the celebration of our Lord's birth that so many of us take part in. It's true that we don't know the exact time of year that Jesus was born, and we don't have any commandments to celebrate it at all, but we are told that we have the right to observe some days as special if we so desire.

 

And we know that even the angels rejoiced at the coming of this day! That seems more than enough for me to do the same!

 

Beyond this most important "Reason for the Season" there is just something about this time of year. When I was a kid, it was obviously a time of gift giving and, being a kid, especially gift receiving.

 

My parents did Christmas right, in my opinion. We would often go out and cut down our own Christmas tree and then bring it home to decorate. There is nothing quite like the smell of a freshly cut pine tree, and especially when your extremities have recovered enough from their near frostbit for you to enjoy it! Dad would get out the lights and after a bit of searching for the inevitable burnt-out bulb that prevented the whole string from working, we would wrap them around the tree and get to the serious decorating. We would hang candy canes on the tree and if we were lucky might even get an early sample of one. This was all done with a Christmas record playing in the background that we had been listening to since the Thanksgiving meal was served. One year, a new Christmas special called "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" was on television so we got to decorate the tree while sneaking peaks at the best cartoon ever made!

 

Then Mom would put up a small nativity scene on the hall table and pull out a wall-hanging that had a space to tie on twelve candies (usually the Brach's ones in the paper wrappers) and we kids got to take turns having one of these candies as we counted down the twelve days of Christmas. Then we went back to school until the two-week break came which signaled the final countdown to the greatest day of the year! We kids would be untypically kind to one another, even to the point of civil conversations and the playing of board games with only a minimum of disputes.

 

On Christmas Eve we got to open one present!

 

But first, Mom and Dad would torture us by taking us to look at every Christmas light in the entire city! Since we lived at times in Seattle, Houston and Denver, this could take an eternity! The reward though was often a cup of hot chocolate (with marshmallows!) and then we would put on our pajamas and get to select a gift from under the tree. Mom would often help with this (you didn't want to waste your pick on a box of underwear that had been diabolically disguised as a gift) so her help was usually appreciated. I say usually because it seems like my brother and I got matching "footed" pajamas one Christmas Eve. Oh, the agony of such a wasted pick still burns as one of childhood's most painful memories!

 

Then, it was off to bed! Sometimes my brother and I got to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor of our bedroom. Dad would come in a thousand times or so to threaten us to sleep, but this was the one night of the year that no outside discipline was needed. A simple reminder that Santa would not come until we were asleep was enough! Then, usually somewhere between the hours of 3 AM and sunrise, we would awaken to the cry, "Santa has come!" We would dash into the other room and experience the closest thing to magic that a child could ever have...

 

...under the lights of the Christmas tree would be our gifts that had been eagerly anticipated since the last Christmas! Before that, we went to our stockings - usually a great disappointment for they would often be filled with fruits and nuts! Those we carefully dumped out onto the couch or floor to be saved for Mom and Dad, but then there was always a few pieces of hard candy mixed in to salvage the experience. But the presents! They were never a disappointment. Soon the whole house would be so filled with the noise of our playing that our parents would awaken and tell us to keep it down. Before too long, our sister would even get up and the whole process would start again. 

 

Now I do have to admit that there was one day of the year that we kids did not want Christmas to fall on - Sunday! Now I want you to know that Sundays are typically a great day for Christmas to come on for non-heathens, but Mom and Dad had at least one child who loathed the thought of putting away his toys long enough to get out of his footed pajamas and into something more presentable for church. To add to this heathen child's misery, we worshipped twice on Sundays so there was a similar interruption that evening!

 

All in all, I would have to say that Christmastime - along with its marvelous memories of Christmases gone by, is still the most wonderful time of the year. It is a time when people just seem to be a little sweeter to one another. It is a time of family and of celebration of the gift giving and receiving. It is a time to watch the whole cycle come 'round again with our children and then our grands! I wouldn't trade this time of year for any other season. 

 

And to think that it all began with an announcement by angels declaring that to us "a Child is born"!  And I have to tell you that even though we all don't have to celebrate Christ's birth, I am glad that so many do. It makes not just those who celebrate the season, but the entire world remember the reason for why we have hope. That would be more than enough, but to think that we get everything else too!

 

I pray that God will bless you with a great season this year, and that we can all take pause to take joy at the thought that our Savior was indeed born into this world in order that He might live the perfect life, become the perfect sacrifice, and then rise again to life in order that we someday might have that same opportunity to rise to live forever. Merry Christmas!