Christmas Is..........

Christmas time is here and with it comes the end of another year. I could write about what the year was and how many changes it made in our lives.....but we see and hear about that every day. Instead, I would really like to share with you my reflection of the season and the hope it brings to me.

I had a chance to sit with my children, who are adults, and ask them what they remember most about family and the Christmas season. When my children were little, I could not afford to run out and buy just anything and everything. Most of the time, I would just hold my breath waiting for what would be their miracle under the Christmas tree. It always ended up being an unnecessary panic; at the end we had more than enough. My children remember how with my food stamps I would prepare a special Christmas Eve fest and invite many of my friends and neighbors over for some seafood gumbo, Buffalo wings, meatballs, homemade cakes. Pies...wow, don't want you to get hungry.....you get the picture. It was a marvelous time, my time to give back to a few people that we loved and those we wanted to know. We would go and tape Christmas cards on our neighbor's doors or put plants outside of their homes. I started teaching my children then how much better it was to give than to receive at an early age. So with fun and laughter of a house full of children, adults, games and music, we all celebrated together the fullness of the season and the hope of what the next year would bring.

One miracle under the tree that could not be taken, bought or sold is that of ultimate love on the day that we really are to celebrate. The birth of who Christians believe to be our savior. A Savior that represented love, peace and the hope of life for a world that would experience just the opposite. For every culture, no matter what their belief is, this is a season for fullness of joy. Although December 25th is a designated day for the celebration of the birth of Christ, there is still a feeling that always seems to radiate among us. It is the one season that everyone looks for happiness, rest and preparation for what the New Year can bring. It is a time for reflection, the time families and friends begin to tell stories of their youth and emotional moments of better times.

The tradition that was started with my twins at the age of 5 is still our tradition today at their age of 22. We prepare to surprise our neighbors, visit friends and talk together about our desires for the next year. Yes, I cook up my famous wings and gumbo and look forward to gathering with my family near the lighted Christmas tree for some jokes, laughs and memories. My mother still hangs the ornaments that I made in grade school right next to the ones that my children made. That has become a better picture for me for this season. Through life's lessons, I have learned that how much I spend will not replace cherished memories.

If I can have one hope for anyone in life in my past or my future, it would be that while you take time for the hustle and bustle of shopping, planning and basting the Turkey, that you will take time to send a card, write a letter or make a call to someone in offering of the season. Share words of love, encouragement and hope for the future. Many had loved ones with them last year who are not with them on this year. Take time, if you know of someone, to let them know that they are not forgotten.

In the King James version of the Bible, there is a scripture in Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 14 that says, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Immanuel in translation means Lord is with us.... Keep this in your hearts as I do. It is the reason for the season.

Until 2009, may you be blessed and prosper in all that is connected to your heart!

Karen L. Donald
Copyright 2008