Christmas Presents 2008

As children, we delight in the gifts under the tree, but as adults we know that the true gift of Christmas can’t be found under the tree.  The true gift of Christmas is, of course, Jesus.  Each year we experience the gift of Jesus’ birth in many different ways.  For me I don’t think I have ever had so many great gifts for Christmas. 

There was the beautiful homemade Christmas dinner by the Leischners and the McLemores.  Every dish was delicious.  It was just like going home for Christmas and all of your favorite dishes had been lovingly prepared by your mom. 

 There was the wonderfully hectic shopping at Walmart that was done in less than an hour with Diann and Jeremiah Pallman.  Shopping at Walmart is usually a chore for me, but with the Pallmans there was a sense of excitement and joy.

There was the gift of sitting with my children and husband watching them laugh, sing and pray with our neighbors.  Sharing my faith with my children, loving others through them and with them is not an everyday occurrence these days as they are often away at college.  

But for me the best gift of all was born that night and this year I experienced His birth anew as I sat in the church pew.  That night I heard an angel rejoicing at his birth and the angel was homeless man.